Star of Hope
by Ashlielle
Summary: A new adventure begins for the Straw Hats! What will they do when they find out something is terribly wrong with their captain? Can they help him? When they go to a new island, will anyone there be willing to help him? Or will they instead make new enemies? Follow the pirates on their adventure to Pulliluli Island!
1. Chapter 1: My Star

_Chapter 1: My Star_

A beautiful ship with a lion figurehead sailed easily across the sea. The stars shining above cast a faint glow on the deck of the ship, named the Thousand Sunny, where Luffy sat with his very special straw hat on top of his head. Though it was a very cool night with the sun down and a strong wind blowing, he felt unusually hot, and was beginning to perspire lightly. He had actually felt this unusual heat for the past few days, and this was one of the better moments he had had for about a week. The mornings were always warm, intensifying the heat he felt, but tonight the breeze made him feel almost normal. Of course, he figured it would get better once he ate some meat and took a nap, and when it still didn't go away, he told himself he was just excited to go on a new adventure soon and disregarded it. The stars calmed him as he thought about all of the adventures he and the crew had been on before, and the ones they were going to go on in the future. He sat there and thought for a long time, looking up at the sky.

Nothing was ever going to stop him from accomplishing his dream.

***A few hours later, about 1 AM***

He sat up from where he had fallen asleep on the deck, rubbing his eyes tiredly. His stomach rumbled loudly, but he didn't go to raid the kitchen. The breeze had died down and his forehead was hot and sticky with sweat. He wiped it away before laying back down on the deck, but he didn't go back to sleep. He put his arms behind his head and looked up at the stars.

The peaceful quiet was broken with the sound of soft music. He lifted his head up and looked around. After a few moments, his eyes landed on Brook, playing his violin softly so that he didn't wake anyone so late at night. Luffy pulled himself off of the soft grass and went to sit on the railing next to Brook, who paused for a few moments before he continued playing his calm melody. Once he had finished, he turned and went to sit next to his captain. A few long moments of silence passed before Brook spoke.

"Luffy-san?" he said quietly.

"Yeah?" Luffy looked at Brook, wondering what he was about to say.

"Aren't the stars beautiful tonight?" Brook asked, gesturing to the sky. He must've noticed the surprise on Luffy's face, as he quickly added, "Ah, that was a very sudden question. You don't have to answer if you don't want too."

Luffy looked up to the sky for what felt like the millionth time that night before he replied, "Yeah, it's really nice. And Brook?"

"Yes, Luffy-san?" Brook looked away from the sky and next to him to where Luffy was sitting.

"It's okay to ask questions," he stated. Brook looked at him long and hard. He truly admired his captain. Luffy was strong and powerful, but he was humble, and he cared very much about his crew. He thought about when he had joined the crew back in the Florian Triangle, after Moria had been defeated and he had finally gotten his shadow back. Luffy had accepted him and treated him as one of his crew immediately, despite the fact that he was a skeleton, and that made him very happy. He trusted and respected his captain very much. If Brook wasn't part of Luffy's crew, he wouldn't be part of any crew. This was the only place for him.

Brook looked up at the sky for quite a few before pointing out one star in specific.

"That one is very nice. It's the brightest star tonight," he said. And it was very true. It was the brightest star he had seen in quite a long while.

Luffy's face lit up with joy as he exclaimed, "Isn't it cool? Guess what! That one is MY star!"

But he didn't mention who had named that star his. It became silent again, but they didn't feel like they had to say anything at all. It was just peaceful. The breeze died down even more, and the air felt stuffy. Brook looked at Luffy, still silent. There were many beads of newly formed sweat on his forehead and his breathing was heavy. Brook didn't think it was that hot, but he wouldn't really know. After all, he didn't have skin anymore (Yohohoho!). As Luffy wiped away the sweat on his face as Brook stood up.

"Wait here," Brook demanded politely. Luffy looked after him but pulled his gaze away and looked up at the stars. Tonight he didn't look much at his star, though. He looked at Ace's star. He remembered that terrible day two years ago and shuttered before he realized Brook had come back, and was now trying to get his attention.

"Luffy-san! Are you okay?" he asked nervously as Luffy turned his gaze over to him.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized, "Just thinking."

Brook handed him a cold wet rag, and Luffy accepted it gratefully. He hadn't realized how much he needed it until Brook had brought it. He looked at it for a few before he started wiping off his sweat with it.

"Thanks, Brook," Luffy said.

"My pleasure," he replied. He watched as Luffy stood up and walked to the men's quarters.

"Night," Luffy called back to Brook.

***The next morning***

Luffy sat up, rubbing his eyes. After he had fully woken up, he looked around and noticed the light coming in from the windows painted the room with an orange light.

"Good afternoon, ya' rubber idiot," he looked over to see Sanji standing in the doorframe, "You finally up?"

It didn't take much to figure out what had happened. He had slept in. Not that it was unusual, but he STILL felt tired. Really tired. But he didn't mention it, instead talking about missing breakfast and almost missing lunch. He swung his feet to the floor and followed Sanji to the kitchen. But you would never guess what happened next…


	2. Chapter 2: Unpleasant Surprises

**(Ermahgerd! Thank you for your reviews and favorites and stuffs :3 I'm so happy! I hope you like this chapter as well :D**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't One Piece… Not yet, that is o.O**

**Extra Disclaimer: I forgot to put one in the first chapter XD Oops! So yet again… One Piece is not mine.)**

_Chapter 2: Unpleasant Surprises_

"Hmm…" Luffy tilted his head to the side.

"Hmm?" the rest of the Straw Hat pirates leaned in, except for Robin, to get a closer look at their captain.

"Hmmm…." Luffy hummed out again, but longer this time.

"HMMM?" they leaned in a little closer.

"I don't want it," Luffy stated.

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled out as they practically fell out of their seats, with Robin only raising her eyebrow and eyes widening in the slightest. When Chopper pulled himself from his shocked state on the floor, he began to chase Luffy all over the deck.

"LET ME CHECK YOU IN THE INFIRMARY, LUFFY! NOW!" Chopper shouted, chasing Luffy all around the deck.

"No~! I'm perfectly fine~!" Luffy replied.

"USSOP!" Chopper yelled, "HELP ME CATCH HIM!"

As he started out the door to help chase, he said, "OF COURSE! CAPTAIN USSOP will help you catch this weird person who took Luffy!"

"What?" Luffy looked at Ussop, still running, "What are you talking about? I'm just not hungry!"

Of course, Luffy had to admit that it WAS weird that he wasn't hungry, but the others have had days where they didn't want to eat anything either. Why were they making such a big deal about it, he thought to himself. Eventually Chopper and Ussop were able to catch the 'weird person who took Luffy' and drag him to the infirmary. Once they all finally settled down a bit, everyone else began trailing out of the galley. Most of them went to do the things they normally do, and a few of them stuck around the infirmary out of curiosity. After drinking a glass of water and doing a basic check-up on Luffy, he was ready to really begin.

Pulling out a few medical books, Chopper asked Luffy, "Have you been feeling weird lately? Other than not being hungry?"

"Nope," Luffy stated. Though the lie on his face was obvious, Chopper was busy looking in his medical book, and everyone else at the door was looking at Chopper, waiting for the next question. Chopper would look at one certain page with a thoughtful face before bookmarking it and moving on to another one. This went on for a few minutes before he finally flipped back to the first bookmarked page and pulled out a clipboard.

"What about this morning? When you slept in, did you still feel tired after sleeping so long?" he asked, now looking at Luffy.

"N-No…" Luffy answered, the lie still obvious on his face.

"If you lie, you're going to make this really hard for me," Chopper stated, crossing his arms.

"_Hard?_" Luffy thought to himself, "_But I don't want Chopper to be upset… But I don't wanna bother him either…_"

"And not only that, but if you don't tell me the truth, I can't figure out if anything is wrong. If you get sick, you can't fight,"

"What?! Can't fight?!"

"Yes, Luffy, so answer me truthfully," Chopper said, happy he could get his point across.

"…" Luffy still thought about it, eventually turning red in the face and getting a headache from thinking so long, "Fine."

Chopper sighed in relief. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a possibility his captain could be sick. As healthy as Luffy is, it would be almost weird, but still possible. He kept thinking for a moment as he looked down at his clipboard and wrote down a few things. He had found many sicknesses that he could have, but even if he did have one of them, it would be hard to determine which disease he had. Many of the diseases had the same symptoms, but none were completely the same. Even so, if Luffy had only had one or two symptoms, he wouldn't be able to determine what it was just yet, though he could make the list of possibilities shorter.

"Has anything felt different lately?" he asked.

Luffy put on a thoughtful face before answering, "Kinda…"

Chopper looked at him for a few moments, waiting for him to explain. But after a few moments of waiting, it was clear that was all the rubber head thought he needed to say.

"So… What is different?" he asked, hoping for a better answer this time.

"Well, I feel really hot and sweaty all the time, but the wind makes me feel better, so it's not that bad," Luffy explained, smiling now, as if nothing were wrong and Chopper was just asking him about the weather. A few moments passed while Chopper scribbled some notes on the paper attached to his clipboard before a voice sounded out.

"Yohohoho! It's true, Chopper-san! Last night Luffy was perspiring quite heavily and I brought him a wet rag to wipe it off with," Brook stated. He remembered bringing the rag back and seeing Luffy completely spaced out and he had even shuddered once. What had he been thinking about to make him act like that? He remembered how many times he had to say Luffy's name before he had finally looked up at him. He decided not to mention it. Whatever happened in Luffy's head was Luffy's business, and nobody else needed to know about it.

By the time he had looked back up, it seemed like they were done. Luffy was getting up and Chopper was now at his desk, writing down furiously and flipping through the pages of multiple medical books he had pulled off of the shelf.

***A few hours later***

A strong breeze carried itself quickly across the ship, making most of its occupants shiver. Luffy thought it felt pretty good, considering his current state. Chopper had told him not to be running around, so instead he was busy fishing with Ussop. He already had a blanket and was shivering, but he still stayed outside to fish with Luffy. After all, somebody had to watch him right now, as Chopper had said, and Zoro couldn't watch him because he was sleeping as usual. It was almost dinner time. What if Luffy said he wasn't hungry again? What if he kept saying it? He HAD to eat! Even if he was sick, it wouldn't make him not like meat…

"O-Oi Luffy…" Ussop stuttered.

"Mm?" Luffy hummed in reply, turning to look at Ussop.

"You… Don't you still wanna eat meat?" he asked.

"Yeah and no," Luffy replied. When Ussop looked over at him, he could see the upset expression that Luffy displayed. He obviously still wanted it, but how could he also not want it? It just didn't make sense.

"What?" Ussop asked, "Why?"

"I don't know… When I look at it, it looks good, but it doesn't look good either," Luffy tried to explain. Ussop didn't really get it, but decided to go along with it anyway.

"Ah… I see…" he said, turning his attention back to the ocean. The wind had died down enough that he didn't need his blanket anymore. As he got up from his spot on the railing, he noticed Luffy's breathing get heavier and his face was a little red. Zoro was just now waking up, and Ussop asked him to watch Luffy while he went to put away his blanket and get something. Zoro got up to go sit with his captain on the railing as Ussop walked away.

Ussop had put the blanket away already and was now headed to the galley to get some cold water for Luffy, hoping it would make him feel better. He came out of the galley to the sound of two loud splashes and turned his head to see both Luffy and Zoro missing from their seats on the railing.

**(So… Did you like it? :D I hope so! The first chapter was pretty short because I wanted to see the reaction I would get before getting carried away XD I posted this one pretty soon but I don't know how often I'll be able to update the story. *phew!* I both started and finished writing this today, and I am very happy with it! :D The end is a little sudden, hope you don't mind, because I just couldn't think of another way to end it… I wanted to end it more dramatically XD Oh well… Hope you loved the chasing-Luffy-around-the-deck scene! When I imagine it in my head it's pretty hilarious :3 lol)**


	3. Chapter 3: Wet Towels

**(Welp! I'm going to try and make these chapters longer now! :D Are you happy? Not happy? I'm going to try and type up as much as possible before I start school next week ;-; I don't know if I'm looking forward to this school year or not… I mean… I've never tried what I'm doing this year, so I don't know how often I'll be able to write and read stuff… Anyways! Thank you for reading the first two chapters, and please keep enjoying them! Yay! :D**

**Disclaimer: Oda-sensei…. THANK YOU FOR CREATING ONE PIECE! :D YAY!)**

_Chapter 3: Wet Towels_

Almost immediately after Ussop had disappeared from Zoro and Luffy's sight, they started talking.

"Oi, Zoro," Luffy said.

"What?" Zoro looked over at Luffy, who in turn was looking at the sky.

"Do you have a star?" he asked with a huge grin.

"A star? No, why?" Zoro's mind instantly wandered to the day he had fought with Kuina late in the night. What was her star?

"I'm gonna give you one!" Luffy exclaimed, now examining the stars closely, trying to pick the perfect star for Zoro.

"Heh, okay then. Which one?" Zoro asked Luffy. He wondered which star Luffy would pick as he looked up to the darkening sky. Only the brightest stars could be seen at this moment.

"Ah, that one! It's really close to mine and it looks cool!" Luffy pointed to the sky and bounced around excitedly. Zoro followed the direction Luffy's rubber finger was pointing to see a relatively bright star that's light almost looked blue. He was certainly impressed, but didn't show it.

Before Zoro could ask which one was Luffy's, he had shifted his arm to point at the brightest star he could see.

"That one is mine! It's really super bright and it's my special… star…" Luffy said. Zoro looked at it briefly before realizing that Luffy's bouncing had stopped. He turned his head to see Luffy already halfway on a journey into the sea.

"What the…? LUFFY!" without a second thought, Zoro dove into the ocean after him.

By the time Zoro had pulled Luffy up above the water, Ussop was standing with his upper half leaning over the railing shouting their names. He could barely hear the others' footsteps gathering as a rope and a lifesaver (that's what they're called, right?)came flying down towards him. He looked over Luffy and saw that he was still breathing, making him let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding.

Once they were on deck, a flurry of hands could be seen passing towels in their direction.

"Thanks… Robin…" Zoro said in between breaths.

"What happened? I was only gone for a few minutes!" Ussop said

"He just passed out! I don't know!" Zoro replied.

"Sanji, will you bring him to the infirmary for me? I want to run a few tests on him." Chopper had already started walking back towards the infirmary himself. Sanji did as he was told silently and threw Luffy up and over his shoulder. He felt really hot and was now coughing a little. His captain would be fine, wouldn't he? It was unthinkable that Luffy, the one who had defeated so many strong and seemingly undefeatable men, could suddenly be sick. In the short time that it took for him to take Luffy to the infirmary, his coughing had become louder and came more frequently.

"I think I have an idea what might be the problem, but I'm not sure yet," Chopper said nervously, then whispered, "I hope I'm wrong, though."

"You hope you're wrong? Is it bad?" Sanji asked.

The noise had caused Luffy to wake up, ending the conversation between Sanji and Chopper as Ussop walked in.

"Hm? What's wrong?" he asked, coughing a little.

"Ah! Um… Nothing! Hehe…" Chopper replied nervously. Luffy looked at him for a moments curiously before he decided to forget about it.

"Okay!" Luffy said. He snuggled into the towel that had been wrapped around his shoulders, soaking it in the sea water that he had fallen into. After he thought he had dried himself off enough, he threw the towel in the floor, stood up, and walked out as if nothing had happened.

"What…? Oi! I still need to do tests on you! And don't leave your wet towel in the floor! Come back!" Chopper yelled, getting more aggravated by the second. Really, he was worrying about this idiot's health and he walked out like he was perfectly fine.

"That stupid rubber headed idiot seems to be pretty ignorant about his health. Can't he tell something isn't right?" Sanji said, picking up the towel and walking out to chase Luffy and drag him back. Before he got very far, Nami could be seen dragging him back by the ear.

"Oh, my dear Nami-swan~! I see you've done a wonderful job dragging this idiot captain of ours back!" he swooned.

"Yeah, yeah. Now take this idiot back and let me have some peace and quiet," Nami huffed in reply. They all cared about their captain and was worried about him, but he just kept trying to run around and act like an idiot when he needed to sit still and get better.

"Ow, ow, oww! Nami! Let go of my ear! OWW!" Luffy stopped whining when Nami had pinched his ear even harder for a few seconds before she finally let him go and Sanji dragged him back to the infirmary. Luffy pouted as Sanji set him down on the infirmary bed.

"Luffy! I need to do some tests on you! Sit still, okay? Please?" Chopper asked.

"Fine…" Luffy pouted. He looked over to the door where Zoro had just walked in. Zoro still had his towel around his neck and he was wearing the same sopping wet clothes. Chopper did a few basic doctor things (as if Luffy would know what he was doing XD) before telling him to go take a bath and change out of his wet clothes while he looked up some weird named diseases in his books. Zoro followed Luffy out and left his towel sitting in the doorway.

"Quit leaving your wet towels in the infirmary!" Chopper yelled before throwing the towel at Zoro's head and shutting the door to the infirmary.

Zoro and Luffy both walked to the bathroom in silence, except for one ridiculously loud sneeze from Luffy. When they got in the bath, Luffy started splashing Zoro and it turned into a water fight. Water was still going back and forth as Ussop walked in. Ussop got splashed in the confusion and joined in the water fight, even using his slingshot to shoot soapbars. After everything had died down and it was quiet (but messy), they got out and wiped up the water with fresh towels.

"Luffy! Are you guys done in there? I need to finish testing you to see if you are healthy!" Chopper said through the door. Luffy thought for a moment about what Chopper had said earlier, remembering that he couldn't fight if he wasn't healthy, so he hurried up and went with Chopper to the infirmary after getting dressed.

***In the infirmary, after Chopper finished testing Luffy***

Chopper had been sitting at his desk for a few minutes while Luffy played with random things sitting around the room. Chopper had told him to stay in the room while he checked his books, so he had decided to inspect the infirmary out of boredom. As he picked up a random spoon that happened to be in the room, Chopper started frantically searching through his medicines and herbs.

"Whatcha' doing, Chopper?" Luffy asked, getting bored with the things laying around. He noticed his voice sounded a little weird and started making random noises.

"I'm just… looking for something…" Chopper said. His voice was so quiet Luffy could barely hear him over the sounds he was making. Luffy stopped to look at Chopper.

"What's wrong? Are you sick or something?" he asked. Chopper suddenly stopped searching through his medicines and started crying, running to Luffy and practically tackling him with a hug.

"I can't… I can't…!" Chopper tried to answer him, but he just couldn't. He had been right, and there was nothing he could do.

"Oi, Chopper! What's wrong? Are you hungry?" Luffy asked, trying to make his friend cheer up. He didn't know why his little friend was crying, but he wanted to make him feel better. He hugged him back and let him back, though he was still confused. The door had been left open, and Chopper's crying attracted the attention of everyone aboard the Sunny. Everyone looked in curiously, confused as to why their little doctor was crying so much.

"Luffy! What did you do to poor little Chopper?" Nami asked, pointing her finger at Luffy in accusation. Luffy's eyes widened

"Me? I didn't do anything! I don't even know why he's crying! Chopper, what's wrong?" he said quickly. Chopper stepped back from Luffy and told him to stay in the infirmary while he went to do something.

"Hm? Okay!" Luffy said. Why was Chopper crying? He didn't know, but he wasn't going to force Chopper to tell him either.

Chopper closed the infirmary door behind him on his way out, motioning for the rest of the crew to follow him to the galley. They all followed silently and shut the door behind them once they were all inside the room.

"So? Care to tell us what's going on with Luffy?" Sanji asked. Zoro's face said the same thing, but he would never openly say the same thing as the stupid cook.

"Yeah, what's going on? Why were you crying, Chopper?" Nami leaned her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand, looking directly at Chopper. It was completely silent for a moment as Chopper began sniffling again.

"He's… He's… He's sick!" he cried out.

"What do you mean 'sick'? Everyone gets sick at least once in their lifetime, right? So you don't need to cry, little bro," Franky said, trying to cheer Chopper up.

"No… I mean… He's really sick! He's going to die if he doesn't get treated!" Chopper started crying loudly. Everyone's eyes widened and Zoro slammed his fist on the table angrily.

"What are you talking about? If he's so sick, then treat him!" Zoro yelled.

"I can't! The only way to cure it is with a rare type of leaves that I don't have! I don't even know where they grow!" Chopper cried. Everyone was shocked. How could their captain get so sick so suddenly?

"No… No way…" Nami whispered.

"My heart goes out to Luffy-san greatly… Though I have no heart to-" Brook began before Sanji kicked him in the head.

"Not the time Brook!" Sanji yelled angrily. Brook mumbled an apology from his new seat on the ground and then the room became completely silent except for the crying of the more sensitive members of the crew. Zoro stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door hard behind him. He walked up to the figurehead of the ship and looked at it silently as everyone came out of the galley except for Nami, Ussop, and Sanji.

Chopper headed back to the infirmary after he had stopped crying and washed his face. Luffy was looking at a particularly interesting spot of the wall in front of him, not even noticing Chopper entering the room.

"You can go on out Luffy. You should go to bed and get some rest or you won't be able to get better, okay?" Chopper said quietly.

"…" Luffy hadn't even noticed Chopper walk in the room, much less speak.

"Oi, Luffy," Chopper said, now waving one of his hooves in front of Luffy's face.

"Huh? What is it Chopper?" Luffy asked.

"I said you can go to bed now and get some rest," Chopper repeated.

"Oh… Okay!" Luffy said.

"Oh yeah, tell Zoro and Ussop to get the wet towels from the bathroom and bring them to me before they go to bed!" Chopper called right before Luffy had walked out of the door. He only lifted his hand in response.

"Night, Chopper," Luffy said, walking away.

***Later that night, when everyone but Robin was asleep***

He felt mostly peaceful, knowing that Robin was the lookout tonight. Nobody would board their ship. His nakama were safe. He raised his hand in front of his face. But would he be? He had overheard the conversation in the galley. After all, they were talking and crying awfully loud. It was hard NOT to hear. Wasn't he going to become the pirate king? He couldn't die… Not yet… Not like this…

**(Okay, before anybody says anything… This is my story. I can make stars look blue XD lol I don't know if that's even possible or not… I don't get out much. :3 I hope you liked this one too! Hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and before I finish… Search "megurine luka clarity" on youtube and watch the first video! IT IS AWESOME! X3 YAY!**

**Bai Bai! =^o.o^=)**


	4. Chapter 4: Bottle of Excitement

**(Yay! I've been very pleased with the past few days :D I somehow managed to type out one chapter a day for three days in a row, though I don't know how long I can keep up that pace. XD But I'll try to type as much as I can until it starts taking up too much time or becoming uncomfortable. Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! They make me very happy! So here is your reward! Another chapter for my lovely fans! XD *inserts song "We Can Sing A Song" by AAA and does Sanji's noodle dance***

**Disclaimer: Trust me, if I owned One Piece, you would know by now :D)**

_Chapter 4: Bottle of Excitement_

The past few days had passed by unusually quiet, except for the occasional exaggerated story from Ussop to try and cheer Chopper up. Zoro trained nonstop, barely taking time for his usual naps. Sanji spent a lot of time sitting at the table in the galley, chain smoking, and though Nami had told him not to, it was inevitable. Robin did what she normally did, reading history books under an umbrella on the deck, though now it took her longer to finish a book than it normally did. Franky looked over the ship constantly or worked on new projects. His normal enthusiasm and "SUPER!" had disappeared when he ended a project, moving on to a new one rather quickly to distract his mind. Brook had been working on composing the same song since the day they found out about Luffy's illness, taking breaks only to cheer himself up with random skull jokes. Nami would sit and stare at all of the new maps she had made since their journey had begun for hours on end. As she looked at the maps, they reminded her of Luffy. His unending love for adventure had brought him to her island where he had ended Arlong's rule for her sake. It had brought them to all of their friends and had saved a country from the vicious warlord Crocodile. It had almost gotten herself killed once, too. She remembered when she had been told she had a life threatening illness, Kestia, and had been lucky enough to get to a doctor with the cure for it. They had been that lucky once, but would they be that lucky again? She hoped so, though it was highly unlikely. Luffy's illness was apparently just as rare, if not more than, as Kestia. Not only was the disease ridiculously rare, but the only cure was the leaves from a tree and special water that only came from one island in the whole world, according to Chopper. He would be okay, wouldn't he?

Luffy was in the infirmary yet again as Chopper did more tests to see how ill he was, reassuring Luffy that he was fine and that he just wanted to make sure he was extra healthy. He knew it was a lie, but he was glad that Chopper wanted him to be happy. At this point he thought his case was hopeless. He wasn't normally the type to give up so easily, but he was so tired and sick that he didn't have enough energy to protest. He hadn't eaten since the day before at breakfast, and still couldn't even begin to think of food without feeling sick. He already felt sick enough as it is.

"Chopper,"

"Huh?" startled, the little reindeer looked up, "What is it?"

"Do you think we're close to another island yet?" Luffy asked, putting on the best grin he could. Chopper and the rest of them didn't know that he had already heard about it, and he intended to let them think he felt fine. He knew it wasn't very convincing, seeing as he had barely eaten anything recently. The last time he had tried to eat as normal, he wasn't able to keep it. He slept constantly instead of running around the deck as usual either. Chopper was determined to keep Luffy away from the railings anyways, and there wasn't really anything else he could do outside except for nap in the sun like Zoro. Or, well, like Zoro used too.

"Maybe… I could go ask Ussop and Nami for you, if you would like me too," Chopper replied, bringing Luffy away from his thoughts and back to reality. He narrowed his eyes slightly, though Chopper couldn't see it. Everyone offered to help Luffy whenever they could, even with simple things. He didn't like being coddled and babied by everyone that way. What happened to his do-it-yourself crew?

"No thanks, Chopper. I can do it." sure he was sick, but he wasn't that sick yet. He could still move on his own and talk. A messenger wasn't needed, and personally, he needed some fresh air. As he went out the infirmary door, he caught a glance of Chopper's face. The little guy was scared and worried.

"Oi Chopper," he called back.

"Wh-What?" Chopper asked, jumping slightly and jerking his gaze away from the ground and looking at Luffy, who had a huge grin on his face.

"I can tell you're upset. Turn that frown upside down and face today bravely, okay, little guy?" he said.

Chopper, shocked by what Luffy had said, didn't respond, but looked at him in wonder. He knew Luffy must be feeling really sick, so how why was Luffy worried about him? He should be worried about himself right now! But then, again, Luffy didn't know just how sick he was **(WRONG! XD)** and he probably wasn't even that worried about it. By the time he had snapped out of his thoughts, Luffy was no longer in the doorway. After he shut the door, he kept researching. He could find another cure, couldn't he? It would be hard, but if it was possible, he was willing to research until his brains turned to mush. He couldn't let his captain die from this illness. As he flipped through the endless seeming pages of multiple books, he started to lose hope. It wasn't fair! Luffy was a good person, so why was he suddenly so sick? He didn't deserve this! He didn't deserve to die…

***In the galley at dinner***

Luffy's bouncing enthusiasm didn't seem to match the mood in the rest of the room. But as Luffy started eating slowly, everyone eyed him curiously. They were slightly pleased that he was eating again, and his smile made them feel almost guilty. They didn't like hiding how sick he was, but they didn't want to make him upset yet. Of course, they were obviously going to have to tell him eventually, but they didn't want to until they really had to. Ussop scarfed down his food as quickly as possible after he realized it had been sitting there while he had watched Luffy eat almost ¾ of his own food.

As Luffy finished the very last of his food, Ussop had done the same.

"Well then, umm, excuse me…" Ussop said, handing his plate to Sanji. He didn't like the stuffy atmosphere, and wanted to get out as soon as possible. He had been trying to avoid Luffy lately, not because he didn't like him, but because he didn't like thinking that his strong captain was about to die. After hearing Chopper's in-depth explanation of Luffy's sickness, he was left with no hope. There was no way they would just randomly happen to land on the right island with the right kind of trees and the special lake. It was practically impossible! That wouldn't stop him from hoping, though. If it WAS possible, they wouldn't all be so upset about this.

As Ussop began walking out of the galley, Luffy stood up and threw his empty plate down at the ground, shattering it into many tiny pieces. Without saying anything, he ran out, pushing Ussop out of the way.

"What the…? What was that for?" Nami asked.

"Darn it, Luffy! If you're gonna have a fit, don't drag my dishes into it!" Sanji growled angrily as he swept shards of glass off the ground.

Luffy hid in the middle of Nami's little orange patch. Why had everyone been trying to ignore him recently? Yeah, he was sick, but there wasn't any reason for them to avoid him and leave him alone. He remembered all the days he followed Ace through the forest when he was younger. He had been pushed off a bridge, attacked by giant animals, and nearly squished by a tree before he was finally able to reach the Gray Terminal. Even though Ace hadn't wanted to be his friend, he ended up being friends with him, and eventually even brothers. His crew was the same way. They all started out as friends, but after they had spent so much time together, they became like family to him. If they were family, they wouldn't be avoiding him for a stupid reason. So what WAS the reason?

"Hmm…" he thought to himself, "Maybe they ate something weird…"

He decided to try and forget it and focus on the trip to the next island. His head was starting to hurt from all the thinking, and he didn't want to dwell on anything negative. After all, it wouldn't help anything.

"L-Luffy!" he could hear Ussop calling out from somewhere on the deck, "Did I say something wrong? Are you ok? Where'd you go?"

As he climbed out of the tangerine patch and sucked in a breath, getting ready to reply, he noticed a bottle floating in the water. He looked over the deck, finding Ussop with his back facing him.

"Ussop! I'm over here! Come look at this!" Luffy shouted to Ussop. The yell had hurt and he coughed heavily for a moment, covering his mouth with his hands. When his coughing stopped and he pulled his hands from his face, there was a few drops of blood on them. As Ussop approached him, he frowned at his hands and wiped them off on the sides off his shorts.

"Huh? Why'd you leave like-"

"Ussop, LOOK!" Luffy stretched his arm out to grab the bottle. When he pulled it back, he stuck his finger in it, trying to get the rolled up paper stuck inside of it. Zoro, who had heard the commotion, walked up just then with his swords at his side. Ussop and Zoro both watched Luffy patiently for a few moments, waiting for him to pull out the paper, but it soon became obvious that his finger was stuck and wasn't coming out without some help.

"Ahh~! Zoro, help me get my finger out!" Luffy exclaimed, not wanting to live out the rest of his apparently short life with his finger stuck in a bottle with a message he couldn't pull out. Zoro grinned, unsheathing one of his swords. Luffy didn't notice the action as he focused on his hand, still trying to pull out his finger out. He rested his finger almost on top of the railing, letting the bottle lay down on it entirely as he pulled before Zoro put his foot on top.

"Let me handle this and move your hand out of the way," Zoro stated, with a serious look taking place of his grin. Seriously, how do you get your finger stuck in a bottle like this? He raised his sword above his head, preparing to swing down as Luffy thanked him. A few long seconds passed before Luffy's eyes snapped open.

"W-W-W-W-WAIT!" he shouted, but he was too late. Zoro had now swung down full force as Luffy desperately pulled out his finger, blowing on it with quick breaths.

"Oh? You pulled it out on your own? Now what's this…?" Zoro pulled the paper out of the bottle.

"ZORO, YOU JERK! YOU ALMOST CUT MY FINGER OFF AGAIN!" Luffy shouted **(there is a special episode with a scene that is nearly identical to this, except Ussop wasn't there, it was daytime, and Zoro was using an axe instead of one of his katana)**. Ignoring him, Zoro unrolled the paper with Ussop looking over his shoulder. He had been screaming hysterically as Zoro cut the bottle, and still had nervous sweat on his forehead as he looked at the paper Zoro was holding.

"A special performance on Pulliluli Island," he read aloud, "We'll sing a song for the discomforted and sad… Or for those looking for an excuse to have fun!"

By now Luffy was looking over Zoro's other shoulder curiously.

"Our special island is shown on the map below, so come and have fun with us soon! ~Miki," Zoro finished, not even glancing at the map. If they decided to go, Nami would be the one to deal with the map, so there was no reason for him to look at it. Ussop grabbed the paper and took it to the galley with Luffy on his tail. Zoro followed calmly, watching Luffy and Ussop running ahead energetically. How long would Luffy still have that kind of energy?

"We're going to this island!" Luffy stated loudly on his entrance to the galley.

"Huh? What?" Nami asked, "What island?"

"Oi Luffy! Don't go breaking my plates anymore, you stupid rubber head!" Sanji said as he washed the dishes that hadn't been broken. He was ignored as Ussop spread the paper out on the paper. Robin reread it aloud for the other crew members to hear. Chopper's eyes turned to stars and he squealed in delight.

"A performance? That sounds like fun!" he exclaimed.

"Yohohoho! Yes indeed! And we're going to it!" Brook said.

"Ow! This sounds SUPER awesome!" Franky said while striking his usual pose.

Robin inspected the paper closely, looking at the cute little trees drawn to show a forest on the side of the island opposite the village. A lake was in the middle of all the trees, and sparkles were drawn around it to make it look cute. Nami was also looking at the picture, and then back to her own map that she had bought at the last island they went to, comparing the maps.

"Well, aren't you boys lucky? That's the island we're already headed towards! There is a current coming this direction, and though it's calm, it is probably what carried the bottle here," Nami announced, drawing shouts of joy from every boy in the room except for Sanji, who was drying the dishes and putting them away, and Zoro, who was standing calmly in the doorway with the same stoic expression as always.

"Woohoo!" Luffy pumped both fists into the air above him, shouting in joy. He wanted to go on as many adventures as possible while he still could.

***A day and a half later***

Nothing particularly sudden had happened since they had decided to go to Pulliluli Island. Luffy now had Chopper's permission to sit on the figurehead of the Sunny, and so he would spend hours lying on his back there in his favorite spot, looking up at passing clouds or taking long naps filled with dreams of meat and adventure. But now he was looking out excitedly at the sea ahead of the ship. They would be approaching the island soon and all the excitement he had bottled up was just itching to come out. Zoro was napping against the railing near the figurehead. He wanted to be near his captain right now, though he wouldn't admit it. If anything happened to him, he wanted to be nearby to help. After sitting by him for a couple of hours without any trouble, he had relaxed and dozed off. Sadly, his midday nap was interrupted by sudden shouting.

"I see it, I see it! Look, look, look! Zoro! Ussop! Look!" Luffy yelled, not able to hold his excitement anymore, "Nami! Look, look, look!"

"Okay, I see it! Now would you just SHUT. UP?" she growled at him. But it was pointless. He kept yelling, and was soon joined by a little reindeer and a long nosed sniper.

"P-U-L-L-I-L-U-L-I~! PULLILULI!" the boys shouted. They all did a weird line dance as Sanji noodled his way over.

"It was signed Miki! I hope it's a girl with a face as beautiful as her name!" the love-struck cook exclaimed, eyes replaced with hearts. Nami brought the hand not holding her map up to her forehead. Couldn't these idiots EVER be quiet? They were giving her a headache and it hadn't even been five minutes!

"Sanji, go make some pirate lunchboxes for us!" Luffy ordered. He didn't want to be hungry in the middle of his adventure without anything to eat, after all. Sanji stopped noodling to glare at Luffy. For a moment, he opened his mouth, but then clamped it shut before turning and walking silently to the galley. Robin, who was reading in the shade of an umbrella nearby, watched Sanji quietly. It was obvious he had wanted to protest like he normally would have, but knowing how sick his captain was would make him feel like a jerk if he had. She had been feeling similar lately, not wanting to upset her captain in the slightest, though she normally didn't bother him anyway.

"What do you think it's going to be like?" Chopper asked, imagining things he would like to see on the island. What he really wished he could see was the leaves of a Trupa tree. The leaves of that tree were the only cure for Luffy's disease, and he would be willing to do nearly anything to get some now. And it wouldn't hurt to have them in the future, either.

"Well, since it's a performance, there will probably be lots of shops, food and sweets carts, and amazing actors, musicians, or musicians," Robin stated from her shaded seat.

"Shops?" Nami turned to Robin as her eyes turned into beri signs.

"Food and sweets?" Luffy and Chopper also turned to Robin with watering mouths.

"Amazing performers?" Ussop spun to face Robin with twinkling eyes.

Robin's eyes twinkled with amusement as she looked at her friends' faces.

"That sounds SUPER cool!" Franky exclaimed as he walked up, "But I'm going to stay and watch the ship while I finish a project and do some repairs. Does that sound good to you guys?"

"Yes, Franky. Now everyone get ready! We're about to dock!" Nami shouted.

"Here we come! Go straight ahead! To Pulliluli Island~!" Luffy exclaimed, ready for a new adventure.

**(Yaaaaay! This is by far the longest chapter I've written! I hope you are pleased with it, everyone! :D Thank you for the reviews! And you know… You won't make me write any faster with flattery, you jerks! *dancing around like Chopper***

**Guess what! Miki is actually one of the main characters in a story I'm busy planning, but it's a really long story, so it'll be a while until you see it. I hope you like Miki-chan! She won't be wearing her normal outfit though XD Too bad for you! You'll have to wait and read the other story when it comes out! Bai Bai~! 3)**


	5. Chapter 5: Quick Friends

**(Ahahaha! Oops! I accidently made an error in the last chapter when they talked about what they thought Pulliluli Island would be like. When Robin was making suggestions, she said "musicians, and musicians" at the instead of "magicians, and musicians"… Shame on you, Robin-san! I thought you were good with your grammar, but apparently I was wrong XD**

**So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well! And yet again I will be noodling like Sanji while I type to AAA's "We Can Sing A Song", so don't be too angry at me if I make a few more accidental grammar mistakes! *steals Nami's Clima Tact and uses it against anyone who comes close***

**And one more thing! Thank you yet again for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! Especially your reviews! :D I like that little self confidence boost XD *thumbs up, and still zapping people with a stolen Clima Tact***

**Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine, but Pulliluli Island is, and so are all of the extra characters that live on it! Yay! :D)**

_Chapter 5: Quick Friends_

As they got closer to Pulliluli Island, they could see the beginning of fireworks and multicolored lights adorning the dock and the large Ferris wheel to the east of the dock.

"WHOA~! IT'S LIKE A HUGE FESTIVAL!" Luffy, Ussop, Chopper, and Brook exclaimed in unison.

And it was absolutely true. It looked like they were celebrating the New Year all over the side of the island they could see. Nami was staring at all of the shops along the dock while Luffy and Chopper stared at the food carts excitedly. Ussop couldn't see any performers yet, but he had high hopes that they would soon. Robin looked at the island with interest, though she was more curious about a large circular dome in the center of the city. Sanji gushed over the women he could see on the dock. Most of them were gorgeous, causing Sanji to have what was similar to a fangirl spasm.

"Okay! Franky is going to stay on the ship! Robin, Chopper, Brook! You're all staying with me!" Nami ordered, "Which leaves Luffy, Zoro, Ussop, and Sanji in the other group together!"

"Tch! When did you become queen of the ship?" Zoro mumbled to himself as Nami appeared behind him with a menacing glare and whacked him on the back of the head.

"Yes, my dear Nami! Your judgement is correct as always!" Sanji declared as he noodled his way over to her with hearts instead of eyes, not realizing that he had been stuck in a group with Zoro and neither of the girls.

"Yay! Yay! We get to go to the island soon!" Luffy and Ussop shouted as Chopper looked over the railing at the island with stars in his eyes.

"YOU'RE GETTING ON MY NERVES! JUST SHUT UP AND GO ALREADY!" Nami screamed as she kicked Zoro, Luffy, Ussop, and Sanji from the ship to the island, "And meet us at that dome in three hours! That's when the performance starts!"

When Sanji realized Nami and Robin were both in the other group, he looked like a puppy that had been struck by its owner.

"Why I am I stuck in a group with the stray moss…?" he asked himself quietly, but loud enough for Luffy, Zoro, and Ussop to hear. Zoro glared at him and walked up to him.

"What was that, swirly brows?" Zoro growled at Sanji. Soon the little argument they had turned into a flurry of swords and feet before Luffy grabbed their shirt collars and pulled them behind them along the dock.

After Luffy had let go of their collars, he ran off towards a food stand and got lost in the crowd. In the midst of Zoro and Sanji's fight, the other three in the group hadn't seen him run off. They kept walking down the dock before Ussop noticed a cool looking monkey sitting on a blonde girl's shoulder (who Sanji was currently staring at).

"Oi Luffy! Isn't that-" Ussop said, quickly realizing their captain was nowhere to be seen. Zoro looked around, hoping for some sign of Luffy to appear, but all he saw was many people crowded on the dock enjoying their time.

"Darn it! Where'd he run off to?" Zoro hissed, "If you weren't so busy falling over for some random monkey girl, maybe he wouldn't of disappeared, love cook!"

Sanji stopped looking at the blonde girl with a dancing monkey on her shoulder to glare at Zoro.

"Huh? How exactly is this MY fault?" Sanji asked, getting aggravated yet again with Zoro. They erupted into another fight as Ussop clonked them on the heads and pulled them through the crowd by their collars, looking for Luffy.

***Meanwhile, with our favorite idiot***

He had been so excited to find a takoyaki stand that he accidently left them behind. Now, as he chowed down on takoyaki and walked around the dock, he couldn't find traces of his friends anywhere. While he was busy looking for his buddies, he hadn't noticed a girl with bright pink hair and a maid outfit running in his direction carrying a heavy bag on her back. He turned his head in time to see her crash into him and he fell to the ground, somehow saving his precious takoyaki.

"Ah! Oh no! I did it again! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" the girl offered a hand to help him up, but he quickly hopped up on his own.

"I'm okay!" he grinned, "My name's Luffy! Nice to meetcha'!"

She looked at him for a moments before raising the hand she had offered back up.

"I'm Tomomi!" she returned his grin as he shook her hand. The bag suddenly started to slip down her back and she suddenly moved her hands behind her to lift it up again.

"Do you need help with that?" Luffy asked.

"What? Huh? Help? Would you?" Tomomi asked, giving him a large grateful smile.

"Yeah…" he said as she transferred the bag to his back and held his takoyaki for him, "I haven't been able to help my friends much lately."

"Hm? Why not?" she asked curiously.

"They won't let me," he answered simply.

"What? Why?" Tomomi asked, getting more confused every second she spent with him.

"They're trying to be nice. I'm happy, though. It's calming to know that they care and everything," he stated with a grin. He really was happy he had such good friends.

Tomomi decided not to ask any more questions. She just didn't understand this guy. How was not letting him help NICE? Was he sick or something? She took a glance at him while he carried the heavy bag on his back like it didn't weight any more than a feather. Nope! Not sick. Definitely not.

***Zoro, Sanji, and Ussop again! Yay!***

"Darn it! Where did that idiot run off to?" Sanji said for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour.

"We all know that rubber head has no sense of direction," Zoro stated. Ussop stared at him for a moment, a particularly large drop of sweat falling on the side of his face. Like Zoro was one too talk about directions. But that wasn't important. What if something happened to Luffy? He couldn't push himself like he normally did.

"I just hope he's okay…" Ussop whispered. He looked down at the ground as he walked and thought. Something suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks as his thought track became more and more negative.

"Hey… Guys?" he asked quietly. Zoro and Sanji both looked at him curiously, falling silent in the middle of a fight at his worried tone.

"What is it? Spill it out already," Zoro said.

"What if… what if Luffy really dies? What are WE going to do after that?" Ussop asked. Zoro and Sanji's eyes widened. They hadn't been thinking about anything like that. It seemed impossible that he would die, and if they weren't thinking about that, why would they be thinking about anything afterwards?

They had all stopped in the middle of the road, many people bumping into them and grumbling before they moved on. Suddenly a scream erupted from somewhere nearby and they turned their heads, momentarily forgetting about their situation. The blonde haired girl from earlier came running in their direction, looking at something behind her. The three boys were so shocked that they hadn't moved and the girl ran directly into Zoro.

"ACK! Wh-What the…?! I don't have time for this! Sorry!" the girl shouted as she got up and began to run again. Before Zoro got up, the girl's pursuer ran on top of him.

"Sorry-! Oh wait, Zoro?" a very familiar voice said.

"Nami? What are you doing here? Why are you chasing that girl?" Ussop said as Sanji declared love to both Nami and the blonde girl, who had stopped to look behind her at Nami. The girl took a few deep breaths before she began running again.

"Ah! Darn it! She got away!" Nami whined as Ussop looked at her in confusion, "She stole my money!"

Ussop gasped in terror, and Zoro had decided he would rather take a nap and rest where he had been knocked over and stepped on. Sanji grabbed Zoro's collar as they began walking alongside Nami and pulled him so that they wouldn't lose him, too.

"Wait…" Nami said, looking around at the boys, "Ussop… Sanji… and Zoro… You three…"

Ussop and Sanji shrank back as the air around her went cold and a shiver shot down their backs.

"WHERE IS LUFFY?!" she shrieked. The noise woke Zoro up as Nami whacked the three boys on the head.

"Huh? Nami? What was that for?" Zoro said, looking around sleepily as Robin, Chopper, and Brook approached.

"YOU LOST LUFFY, YOU IDIOTS! HOW IN THE HECK DID THIS HAPPEN?! IF ANYONE HAD GOTTEN LOST, IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ZORO!" Nami shouted, not knowing that the other three were approaching before she heard Chopper scream in surprise.

"Nami-san! We finally found you! And what is this talk of Luffy being lost?" Brook said casually as he looked around.

"WHAT?! Luffy's gone?! What if something happens to him?! What if something already HAS happened to him?!" Chopper yelled.

Robin was silent as she walked over and plucked a paper off the wall, read it, and shoved it in the bag she was carrying. Nobody had noticed the small action and kept arguing and bickering before they split back up into their original groups to search for Luffy. After they split up, Ussop, Zoro, and Sanji slipped into the crowd behind a person with a huge bag on their back that hid their head and shoulders walking with a pink haired girl in a maid uniform and walked silently. The girl suddenly pointed her finger straight ahead excitedly at a building that made the path split into two sections of road that went in opposite directions and bounced around excitedly. It caught the boys off guard a bit, but they kept walking when the girl sped up and the guy behind her also sped up slightly, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Ussop felt sorry for the kid carrying that bag. It looked like it weighed a ton and his breathing showed the obvious struggle from carrying it.

He suddenly thought about Luffy. He wouldn't be able to carry something like that right now, even though with his normal strength it would be like holding a feather… Ussop frowned and looked around him for a sign of Luffy.

***Back with Luffy (though technically we were just with him, if you didn't notice XD)***

It had been silent for a long time as Luffy focused on carrying the bag. At first, it was really easy, but as he kept carrying it, he continually felt more and more tired. Now it felt heavy, and he was glad he had asked to help. It's not like he was Sanji, but this girl didn't have the muscle to be carrying this huge sack all the way across town on her own. Not only that, be she had even offered to make a meal for him when they got to their destination. Apparently the girl worked at a little restaurant as an apprentice, and was bringing the ingredients to make a huge selection of foods for the performance that was taking place in the big mystery building. Suddenly the girl had pointed at a building ahead of them and squealed in delight.

"There it is! It's the restaurant! We're finally here!" Tomomi yelled.

Luffy could hear the people behind him stop walking for a moment but he couldn't turn around to see the shocked expressions that the people probably had on their faces. If he turned too suddenly, the bag would slide down his back to the ground, and by now he had learned how hard it was to lift it back up. He decided to just keep walking so he could hurry and put the bag down as the girl ran ahead to the frame of the door of the building.

"LUFFY~! OVER HERE~!" she shouted, waving both arms over her head to make sure he could see her.

"Luffy?" Ussop, Sanji, and Zoro's voice came from behind him.

"Huh?" Luffy asked, so shocked that he turned around and dropped the bag, "Aww~! Darn it!"

"We finally found you! But what are you doing?" Ussop asked.

Luffy didn't answer as he struggled to pull the bag back up on his back. When Ussop noticed his struggle, he helped push the bag up and then asked him again.

"I'm helping Tomomi out!" Luffy grinned from ear-to-ear, happy that he could finally help someone again after a few days of doing nothing but napping.

"Hm? Tomomi?" Sanji asked with heart eyes.

"Yeah! Her, over there!" Luffy carefully moved his arm to point in her direction and began walking towards her.

"Luffy! What's taking you so long? Oh, are those your friends you were talking about earlier?" Tomomi questioned Luffy quickly.

Over the short time they had been talking, Luffy had already grown accustomed to her quick speaking and many questions, but when he began speaking, she would quietly listen until he finished. He told her a lot about her friends and adventures until he had nothing else to say, and she took a break from speaking to process everything she had been told. Tomomi had looked at him thoughtfully for a long time, awestruck by the feats he and his awesome crew had accomplished. From Luffy's description, they all sounded like really amazing people, but she was confused. Why wouldn't they let him help out lately? She noticed the beads of sweat appearing on his face and how heavy his breathing had become since they began their trek across town.

"Mm!" Luffy nodded his head and his smile got even bigger.

Sanji noodled over to her with hearts in the spots where his eyes were supposed to be. She giggled and looked at the boys.

"What about Nami, Robin, Chopper, Franky, and Brook?" she asked, tilting her head at Luffy as she helped him lower the large bag to the floor of the restaurant.

"Oh, that's right! We ran into them and Nami whacked us because you got lost!" Ussop yelled at Luffy.

"Hahahaha! Luffy is the one who got lost? I was thinking since you had Zoro-san with you that YOU guys were the ones who got lost!" Tomomi laughed.

"Eh?! What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro growled at her as Luffy began laughing along with her.

Ussop looked at him and felt that oh-so-familiar large drop of sweat roll down his face. How could Zoro get lost so easily all the time and not even know it? Then he turned to look at the pink haired girl. How did she know about Zoro's horrible sense of direction? He felt like smacking himself when he remembered what Tomomi had said just moments ago.

"_Oh, are those your friends you were talking about earlier?_"

"_What about Nami, Robin, Chopper, Franky, and Brook?"_

Just how much did Luffy tell her? If she knew who the three boys were without them even introducing themselves, it had to have been a lot. He frowned. The girl seemed pretty trustworthy, but why did Luffy tell her THAT much? Still, Ussop was glad that what Luffy had said seemed to be positive, although he had caught the girl looking at him thoughtfully a few times. She had also looked at Zoro and Sanji that way too. It seemed like she admired the three of them, but at the same time, there was confusion in her eyes. It looked like she was trying to solve an impossible puzzle for the few moments she would look at them.

As Tomomi stood up and headed towards the kitchen area that could be seen over the check-out counter, Sanji looked around the tiny restaurant, inspecting it to make sure it was sanitary. After a quick inspection, he followed her into the kitchen, explaining that he was a cook as well, and inspected the room a little while longer than he had with the dining area. It was a very clean kitchen, just as clean as his own. He was very impressed. The kitchen on the Sunny was always kept as clean as was humanly possible, and to see another kitchen like that was impressive. Most cooks didn't take as much time to keep their kitchens clean. This young lady and her teacher were definitely good.

"Oi Luffy! I'm making your meat now, so be patient! And I'll make you boys something to eat as well!" Tomomi called to the group of pirates with a smile. Cooking was her passion, and she wouldn't let the chance to feed this crew in particular go by. Even though she hadn't known Luffy for very long, she already trusted him. His positive attitude led her to believe he really could be the pirate king, as he had stated he would be multiple times.

"Yay! Thanks!" Luffy yelled back.

"It would be a pleasure to try your food, my dear Tomomi-chan!" Sanji swooned like he always did. He watched her cook from up close and she was relatively quick, and was also very good with her spices.

Zoro just grunted in response and a grin split Ussop's face. How could Luffy make friends with such a nice girl in such a short amount of time? He looked at Luffy as the boy wiped sweat off of his forehead and Tomomi threw a cold wet rag over the counter.

"Wipe your face with that, you idiot. How is wiping your sweat on another part of your body going to help?" Tomomi said. She soon came into the room carrying plates of very yummy-looking food.

"WHOA! THAT LOOKS AMAZING!" Luffy and Ussop both exclaimed in unison, drooling as she approached the table they were seated at.

As soon as she sat the food down on the table, all four boys began eating happily. Sanji's eyes widened in amazement. Tomomi-chan's cooking was almost as good as the old man's cooking from Water 7! And as far as he knew, they didn't have Aqua Laguna here.

Zoro acted normal, but was silently impressed. Her cooking was almost as good as the crappy cook's, though he wouldn't admit it. As if he would ever compliment that dumb blonde love cook.

Luffy ate slower than normal, at about the same speed as Ussop. The two boys tried to compliment her cooking as they chewed their food and she just giggled as if it were expected. Luffy had told her almost everything he probably knew about his companions happily. She listened happily to every word, of course. She didn't have many friends, so she was enjoying the attention Luffy was giving her, and appreciated that he could trust her easily enough to tell her about his crew.

"_They're like family to me,_" _he said happily._

Tomomi smiled as she remembered the end of their conversation. Luffy looked at her for a moment before he resumed eating.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" Luffy asked while he ate.

"No, I have to hurry and finish somethi-" she started to answer as the lights in the building suddenly went out. She gasped and the boys all looked around in confusion, pausing their meal.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" a deep manly voice suddenly sounded throughout the room and a crashing sound could be heard.

"No! What are you doing here, Leeman? GET OUT NOW!" Tomomi screamed in the darkness. A quick noise could be heard as Tomomi looked around in fear.

"Just hunting, of course…" the man, now known as Leeman, said evilly.

**(YAY! I finally finished this chapter! I had a little bit of trouble trying to think of how to go on about 2,000 words in XD I hope you liked it! Sorry I took a little longer than before! I'm not going to have as much time to write soon :'( but I promise I'll keep going :D**

**I said Miki would be appearing in this chapter… She actually did, but I didn't give her name yet because I decided to mainly introduce Tomomi-chan first! I SWEAR Miki will appear more in the next chapter! :D So look forward to it! I hope you liked my cliffy XD I'm going to torture you, my lovelies!**

**Please review and give me your thoughts! ;) Until next time!)**


	6. Chapter 6: A Special Performance

**(Well… I read over everything and noticed a few minor grammar mistakes that I either forgot about noticing my first read-through, or just didn't see at all until now… Sorry about that! Also sorry if anything is confusing you! Feel free to ask questions ;D I think I got one follow last chapter… Thank you! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well!**

**I know Luffy has been acting slightly smart… It is necessary… So don't get mad at me! XD Also, no, Luffy doesn't have depression, but I understand what some of you meant… After I read through it, I noticed it DID look sorta like he had depression at first… XD I laughed so hard at that! I wouldn't have noticed it had nobody said anything though, so thanks!**

**This time I won't be noodle dancing… But I'll still be listening to music! watch?v=vG65fBng3As **** Awesome Straw Hat Ver. Of We Are! Yay! I love it! Also one thing that majorly inspired this story XD [And also, Zoro and Sanji have frikin' AWESOME voices!]**

**Disclaimer: One Piece would be ten times longer if I owned it, and I would probably be an old lady by the time I finished it… Also, I'm not that amazing of an artist, though I am working hard on my art skills… And… Pulliluli Island, Tomomi, Miki, Bobo [you'll see him too :D], and all of this island's inhabitants belong to ME!)**

_Chapter 6: A Special Performance_

Another scream erupted from a nearby girl, followed by a loud crash. A broken looking skeleton was sitting on the ground, wondering what had went wrong as the intelligent archaeologist of the Straw Hat pirates pulled a slightly crumpled paper out of her bag. The woman, Robin, had spread the paper out and was now reading it very carefully. After a few moments she began chuckling softly. This looked like fun.

"Nami-san, may I-" Brook began, not even entirely standing up from his last attempt to 'see the unseen', as he put it. Nami whacked him upside the head again, leaving him back on the ground and turned to Robin.

"What is that, Robin?" Nami asked, trying to see the paper.

Robin gestured for everyone to sit down at a nearby table and she laid the paper out for everyone to see. At the top of the paper it read, "Talent show! Sign up now!"

"A talent show?" Chopper said, looking at the paper curiously, "That looks fun!"

"That's just what I was thinking, Chopper-san," Robin said. She had thought the performance today seemed interesting, but was surprised that there was something opened to the public as well.

"But that's tomorrow! Do we even have that much time here?" Nami asked.

"Well, the log pose still has to set, Nami-san. And also, do you really want to pass up a chance to get a lot of money?" Robin gestured towards the rewards section of the paper as Nami pumped a fist in the air.

"Okay! Sounds like a good plan! Let's do this!" Nami shouted, now practically standing on her chair with beri signs for eyes. Chopper began reading the paper closely, picking it up off of the table as Brook and Nami began talking about plans to win the talent show. A few minutes passed as the navigator and skeleton talked, and Robin joined in the conversation as well, giving very scary ideas (I'm leaving her ideas to your imagination!). Chopper gasped just as Robin finished giving an idea, but nobody paid attention, thinking he had been scared by the scary suggestion. After a few moments, though, he began crying and everyone looked at him worriedly. Chopper set the paper back down on the table and kept crying, but there was a big smile on his cute little face.

"Are you okay Chopper?" Nami asked, confused as to why he was crying and smiling at the same time. She picked up the paper and looked at it, not understanding what it was on that paper before Chopper shakily pointed to a picture of a bottle in the rewards section. Nami stared at it, not understanding why he was crying over a bottle, or maybe he was pointing at the wrong thing? She inspected the paper closely, reading every word as Robin offered the little reindeer a tissue and helped him stop crying and clean his face.

"It's the…" Chopper sniffled, thinking he would cry again if he said anything else.

"It's the…?" Nami asked.

"It's the medicine!" Chopper shouted happily. Everyone's eyes widened and a huge grin split on Nami's face.

"Yohohoho! What amazing luck we have!" Brook said. If he was able to smile, he would definitely be doing so.

Nami praised Chopper for noticing the reward, which was followed by a squirmy dance from the latter. Brook laughed and pulled out his guitar, stating that this was inspiring him to create a new song. Soon, though, a crash could be heard from somewhere probably a few streets away, followed by a girl screaming words they couldn't understand from where they were. The people walking along the dock paused silently, and then resumed their afternoon's activities after the loudest of the crashing stopped.

"The hunter is at it again," a middle aged man passing by said to the slightly younger man walking beside him.

"Who do you think he's going after this time?" the younger man said as they walked away.

"I don't know... But I hope he doesn't kill anyone this time…" the older man said, frowning.

"K-k-k-kill?!" Brook shouted, "That's crazy!"

Chopper joined in, repeatedly shouting about how crazy this 'hunter' was, as a girl came crashing into their table.

"Whoa! Ow!" the blonde girl said, helping pick up the table and brushing herself off. Robin had saved the food and the paper with a few extra sets of hands, making the girl's eyes practically pop out of her head as her jaw dropped. Nami raised a fist and ended the expected reaction to Robin's abilities.

"Ow! What was tha-!" the girl said as she looked up at Nami. Her face twisted in fear as she quickly pulled a wallet out of her bag and threw it in Nami's direction, promising everything that was there before was in its place. Nami backed down after getting her wallet back, checking it thoroughly and rubbing it against her face happily at its return with all of her belongings (money). The girl sighed in relief, introducing herself formally as Miki, a performer. A little monkey popped up from the bag on her back with a banana in its hands.

"Hello!" the monkey greeted.

"Ah, hello! How are you- WHAT THE HECK?! HOW ARE YOU TALKING?!" Brook and Chopper yelled in unison.

"My name is Bobo. I am a special species of monkey, with the ability to learn speech from extended time around humans," the monkey, now known as Bobo, stated.

"Whoa! Almost like me!" Chopper exclaimed. Bobo looked at Chopper curiously.

"You can talk too? You're a weird tanuki," Bobo said.

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper yelled angrily, growing large.

"AHHHH! IT GREW!" Miki screamed.

"IT GREW!" Bobo repeated, climbing back into the brown bag on Miki's back. Nami looked on with boredom before remembering the paper.

"Hey," Nami interrupted, looking directly at Miki, "Where do we sign up for this?"

Miki grinned large before she spoke.

"You're gonna enter? We don't get many new people joining the show anymore," Miki said, "I'll take you! Come on!"

The four Straw Hats, happier than they had been for about a week, followed Miki towards the center of the city where the dome stood.

***With Luffy, Ussop, Sanji, Zoro, and Tomomi again***

"Just hunting, of course…" Leeman said, his voice completely evil.

"W-what is he t-talking about?" Ussop asked, freaked out by the man's very deep and creepy voice.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound like anything good," Sanji stated, taking a puff of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and extinguishing it with his foot.

"What are you here for? LEAVE! These men are good people!" Tomomi yelled, fear clearly evident in her voice.

"Hah, good people? I wouldn't say that," Zoro said.

"Yes, I most certainly agree. Pirates are never good, young lady," Leeman said, his voice scaring Ussop again, causing him to jump back and bump into Zoro.

"Hey, watch where you-!" Zoro began, but was interrupted by Ussop.

"Luffy? Where'd you go?" he asked, receiving no answer.

"Huh, what're you talking about? He's right-!" Zoro said before realizing that Luffy had been sitting on a stool between Ussop and himself, "Luffy?"

"Mmmm, mmmm! MMM!" multiple hummed sounds echoed across the room. Zoro and Ussop looked around the room in confusion as Sanji realized what was happening as well. It was definitely Luffy, but where was he? Why couldn't he speak?

Tomomi gasped loudly, gaining the attention of Sanji, Zoro, and Ussop.

"NO!" she shouted. Her voice echoed off of the walls as Leeman began to chuckle evilly.

"Don't worry… He's only going through a couple of tests. Nothing to get all angry over!" Leeman said.

"T-t-tests?" Ussop squeaked, "For what?"

Before Leeman could answer, a grunt could be heard, followed by a barely audible gasp of pain from Leeman. Suddenly a few deep breaths and raspy coughs sounded throughout the tiny restaurant.

"Zoro!" Luffy called out. At the sound of Luffy's voice, Zoro knew the general direction of where Luffy was, but what could he do in the dark like this? As if someone was reading his mind, the light directly in the middle of the group of people turned on. It was barely enough to light the room, but it would have to work. Zoro looked Leeman over, who was standing near a window, holding Luffy by the back of his neck. His other hand was bleeding and the man was looking agitated at the return of the light source. Though it was small, it was enough to get him caught. Using his bleeding hand, he pulled a knife from his belt and held it to Luffy's neck.

"LUFFY!" Tomomi cried out. Sanji examined her face closely. She looked scared, angry, and confused at the same time. Ussop also began calling out Luffy's name, but mostly out of fear than anything else.

Luffy moved quickly and got into a more favorable position, where he bit down on the knife and crumbled it with only his teeth, causing Leeman to stare at him wide eyed before realizing that his 'prey' had escaped. Luffy spun around to face his captor. Leeman wore a black leather coat and baggy jeans. His black boots covered the bottoms of the pant legs, giving him the look of a fighter. He had a young looking face, making him look about Luffy's age. The deep voice he had was a little bit like Zoro's, but didn't seem to fit the boy's energetic face. Black hair covered his forehead and framed his brown tinted sunglasses.

"Dang it! I wasn't expecting the power to come back so quick!" Leeman grumbled. Everyone's eyes widened at the change in his voice and speech. Just moments ago he had been speaking with a deep, low voice but now his voice sounded like a normal teenage boy's voice. His eyes widened unnoticed behind his sunglasses as got into a fighting stance. He didn't have his normal weapons with him because he had been told to bring tranquilizers in the place of his guns. Even so, he still had to test this man's strength. His observation haki had told him that this man was very strong. Sadly, observation haki was the only haki he knew how to use, and he didn't know how much that would help him if this man was as strong as he had seemed.

Zoro watched Luffy as he covered his mouth with one hand and coughed into it. Luffy pulled his hand away from his mouth cautiously after he finished coughing and looked at it for a moment before he started to lower it to his side. Before Luffy had put his hands all the way down, Zoro had spotted the blood covering his hand. Was Luffy really in any shape to be fighting? Leeman seemed to be wondering the same thing, watching his target carefully and prepared for an attack. Luffy wiped off his hand on the side of his pants and got into a fighting stance.

"Ah, L-Luffy-!" Ussop didn't like the idea of Luffy trying to fight, but Luffy silently motioned for him to stop speaking with a lone hand. He could feel the nervous sweat pouring down his face and around his long nose as he watched Luffy throw the first punch.

"Ussop, I want to do this. I don't want to be protected, I want to protect." Luffy looked back at Ussop for a few moments.

"But-!" Ussop wanted to stop him. He didn't want to be protected if it meant Luffy was going to be seriously hurt by it! He couldn't say anything though. Luffy gave him a 'shut up now' look that he wouldn't dare disobey. He knew that look by now.

So the little restaurant became a battlefield of two men, both determined to win.

***N,R,B,C (Gonna start using initials instead XD)***

The loud crashes grew as they walked on. Miki and Bobo both looked a bit worried as they led the group of foreign pirates through the town.

"Leeman is at it again, huh?" Miki asked as she turned her head to look at Bobo. The little monkey looked around curiously, spotting a puff of smoke in the air.

"Yeah, over there!" Bobo said as he pointed in the direction of the crashing and smoke. Everyone looked back, realizing that was near where they had been before.

"Ah… Wait!" Miki said, still looking at the place where the crashes were coming from, "That's in the area where the restaurant-!"

Her sentence was interrupted by an annoying ringing. _Pururururu! Pururururu!_ She looked down at her snail phone, wondering who was calling right now. A show director? One of the people she had robbed that finally got her number? Or was it her friend Tomomi?

She picked up the receiver and the sound of crashing came through it as well, though it sounded a bit different because of the snail phone.

"Miki! Are you there?! Miki!" Tomomi's voice could be heard with the sounds of fighting.

"Tomo-chan? What's going on? Are you in trouble?" Miki replied.

"I need help! I'm at the restaurant! And please hurry!" Tomomi said.

"Are you hurt? What's going on?"

"No, I'm fine, but my friend is in trouble! Leeman came for him!"

Miki sighed. Even in such a serious situation, Tomomi made her want to laugh. How could she get into trouble like this when she was supposed to be making food for the performance? And how did she make friends with somebody strong enough to attract Leeman's attention in such a short amount of time? She turned back towards the dome, pointing at it and giving the four pirates she was traveling with directions to get there quickly. Nami would be able to lead them there, and they would probably be able to find the place to sign-up once they got there.

"Okay, Tomo-chan! I'm coming! Hang in there, okay?" Miki said, turning to walk away from the group of pirates. Suddenly a thud could be heard through the snail phone.

"LUFFY!" multiple voices could be heard shouting, stopping the present Straw Hats in their tracks. Their eyes widened as they began to understand. Of course he would be at a restaurant, and of course he would attract trouble the moment he was separated from his crew members. Nami turned and asked Robin to go get them signed up while the other three went to help Luffy get out of whatever trouble he had gotten into, and announced that everyone would meet back at the ship when their business was done.

Confused, Miki followed the orange haired woman, talking reindeer, and living skeleton (which she thought was the coolest thing she had ever seen), wondering why they, also, were headed to the restaurant. It was pretty funny. Somehow, her and her friend had both managed to make friends with people that also knew each other. What was the relationship between the two groups of people? She eyed the pirates she walked with as they ran ahead of her, looking as worried as she herself must've also looked at the moment.

***T,S,U,Z***

"Darn it!" Zoro shouted angrily, slamming his hand into remains of wood from the now eradicated restaurant. Tomomi sat on her knees nearby, crying with Ussop as Sanji tried to find a way to cheer Tomomi up. Luffy had gotten himself into trouble as always, but this time, they weren't sure if he was going to get out alive. He was already sick, but they said something about doing tests on him. Not only that, but it seemed as though the man whom Luffy had fought was working with or for someone else, and the three boys didn't know how violent they would be. Their captain had pushed past his own limits again.

_Zoro quietly watched as Luffy wiped the blood off of his hands onto his shorts. Ussop had protested Luffy fighting, but still the boy fought. It was obviously weaker than usual. His punches didn't do nearly as much damage as they normally would have, and this guy also seemed to be able to use observation haki. He was strong, though the way he was fighting didn't seem like it was usual. There was something suspicious strapped to his back, but there wasn't much time to think about that. How long would Luffy be able to last in this fight? Would he be able to take Leeman down? It wasn't normal for them to doubt their captain like this, but then again, this situation wasn't normal. Their captain had never been actually sick the whole time they had traveled together._

"_I won't let you touch my crew!" Luffy shouted in-between punches. The man frowned._

"_You're trying to protect them? You're stupid! Pirates don't do that!" Leeman yelled back as they fought. His frown turned into a grin as the fight carried on. This pirate was strong, but crazy for not accepting help. It was confusing. Ever since he was young, he knew that pirates were killers and thieves, so what was this nonsense that the rubber captain was spouting?_

_As the maid girl (Tomomi) pulled out a snail phone, he decided it was about to wrap up the fight. He was very happy with his results. This man was very strong. He would be useful to the doctor._

_Their fight had grown so disastrous that the building was mostly demolished and was now being continued atop the remains. He could hear the girl shouting through the snail phone now, and the rest of this man's pirate friends were looking on nervously. They almost looked… doubtful of their strong captain, which Leeman saw as very unusual. Was something wrong with the man? He couldn't tell. Sweat was covering both men's foreheads, so he couldn't determine whether or not he had a fever. Soon the pirate had gotten into a horse-like stance and pushed down on his leg, announcing the name of what he was doing._

"_Gear Second"_

_Luffy's skin turned to a pink color and steam erupted off of him. He moved quickly, but was now breathing heavier than before. It was admittedly cool, but his crew mates gasped when they saw him do it. Was it bad? He couldn't have his target suddenly collapse from doing something stupid._

_Leeman pulled the large object from his back and pulled out a small gun. The green-haired swordsman smirked. Apparently normal guns didn't work on this kid. After all, his punches didn't have much of an effect either, so why would a gun? But his guns were different, especially his tranquilizer gun. They all had sharp tips, and were designed to shoot fast and quiet. Suddenly he disappeared from the sight of the pirates and girl behind one of the many surrounding buildings. He aimed at the straw hat captain as the long nosed man got up and looked around cautiously. He noticed the man had a slingshot in hand. So he was a sniper too, he thought._

_The steam faded from the captain's skin and he shot, hitting the man and rendering him unconscious as he ran out to capture his falling target. As he ran, he heard the group of people he left scream._

"_LUFFY!"_

_So that was his name._

How were they going to get out of this situation?

**(OMG! I ****FINALLY**** got this chapter done! XC I'm so sorry! I started homeschooling recently and it's really confusing… And so most of my time otherwise has been spent on reading instead of writing… Now that I've got some extra time, I want to write – no, type – as much as possible for yew! If there is anything you don't like, or anything you really like in my story, please tell me! I appreciate the reviews n' stuffs! :D Finally got some action into this chapter! Yay! Though I'll admit the story isn't the way I originally planned it, I think it's doing pretty good! So I hope you like it! Till' the next update, my amazing fellow One Piece fans! Toodles!)**


	7. Chapter 7: End Game

**(Ah! Sorry to those whom I didn't reply to your reviews and stuff! I always feel pretty awesome when someone sends me a message in reply to a review I've posted… I'm still getting used to a new schedule and all, so I won't be able to write very much for a week or two. Once I get used to everything I promise I'll update more! So I hope you can wait a few extra days for updates… I feel bad now! I'm sooorrrryyyyyy~! *cries in a corner***

**Oh yeah! And about the part of the link before the beginning of the last chapter, it was supposed to be a link to an awesome song on youtube, but apparently I can't do that… Oops! Lol. I've been reading too much fanfiction… It's burning my brain, so please don't get mad at me for making grammar mistakes and being confusing and everything… And also, a comment was made on violence about the last chapter… So I was wondering… Should I up the rating or something? I dunno… I'm not good at determining that kinda stuff. XD lol *bows* forgive me please! Okay, time to begin this chapter, yay!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah! One Piece is Oda-sensei's! NOW I can begin the chapter! Sheesh!)**

_Chapter 7: End Game_

The young man woke in confusion. Where was he? How did he get there? The last thing he remembered was fighting the guy who interrupted his meal in Tomomi's restaurant. What had happened after that?

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Luffy's head turned quickly to see the face matching the voice he had just heard. The man lifted his sunglasses to rest on top of his head, revealing banana yellow eyes. Luffy was suddenly reminded of one very important fact.

He was hungry.

"Do you have any food here?" Luffy asked, failing his attempt to move.

"Heh! You're weird! Shouldn't you be worried about other things? Like your friends, for instance?" Leeman said.

"Mmm…" Luffy leaned his head to one side, "They're strong. They'll be fine."

Leeman watched Luffy carefully for a few moments. This man was weird. This man was different. Was he really a pirate captain like he had thought?

"I'm hungry. You got any food around here?" Luffy asked again. He looked down at the ropes tied around his waist, pouting and squirming around.

"_Nope!_" Leeman thought, "_This guy couldn't possibly be a pirate captain. He's so… stupid!"_

Leeman sighed before pulling out a small knife and cutting off the ropes.

"Ah! Thank you mister! But do you have any food? Food?" Luffy said, looking around the room for food of some kind.

"I get it! Stay here and I'll get you something! Seriously! And if you don't stay, no food!" Leeman said.

Luffy grinned as he sat back down and his good-guy captor left the room. After a few moments of boredom, he decided to look around the room. It almost looked like Chopper's office. There were lots of books and medicines and tubes. He decided not to drink any of the weird things in the test tubes. One time he knocked a test tube over and the liquid burned through the floor! Better not take that risk… He almost ventured from the room before remembering his warning. Pouting, he sat back down in the spot he was sitting in before. It was so BORING!

Thinking of both Shanks and Brook, he began to sing Binks Sake in his annoying singing voice as Leeman walked in.

"Ow! Shaddup! Your singing is hurting my ears! If you're going to sing, you should sing good. That's the rule in our town," Leeman lectured.

Luffy pouted at Leeman.

"Fine, is this better?" Luffy said before sucking in a deep breath.

**{Okay, before I go on, if you want to understand where I got the whole idea for this stuff, there are a few videos you must watch on YouTube! If you don't care, you should probably skip this message! But it might help you if you do watch them… So… Here ya go!**

**We Are Full Version (Straw Hat Version)**

**[Mayumi Tanaka] Luffy's Tribute Song For Ace**

**There it is! If you look those up on youtube the way they're written, you should be able to find them! And be sure to listen to the singing! These videos are the actual voice actors singing! So don't get all mad and treat me weird! Lol.}**

The raven haired pirate captain sang seriously, looking up at the ceiling and thinking about his friends. Leeman gaped as he watched, amazed by how good the boy could sing. As Luffy finished the song, he seemed to remember he was hungry and asked for food again.

"Okay, here you go! Prize for your singing!" Leeman said, tossing over the bag of food he brought. Luffy looked confused, but ate anyway, wondering what his good-guy captor was talking about. Prize for singing? Maybe he would try that sometime with Sanji. Well, if he was ever able to…

A young looking child with hot pink hair in braided pigtails walked into the room. She was wearing an oversized lab coat and a big pair of glasses that seemed out of place. She was wearing a light pink dress that almost reached her knees and no shoes.

"Whoa! You look funny, who're you?" Luffy said quickly in between bites.

The girl looked at him curiously for a moment before she went to hide behind the doorway.

"I-i-i-is that the person you b-b-brought?" the girl pointed at Luffy, her light blue eyes widening in fear as she looked at him.

"Yeah, but he's kinda stupid," Leeman said, shrugging.

"Oh… Okay!" the girl said, coming out from behind the doorway.

"Oi, you can't trust someone just because they're stupid, Lulu," Leeman said, a large drop of sweat falling down the side of his head.

"ACK! REALLY?!" Lulu squealed, running to hide behind the door.

Before she could hide, though, Leeman picked her up by the back of her jacket and held her in the air.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. What did you come here for anyway?" he asked looking her straight in the eyes.

Suddenly she stopped squirming and her gaze lowered to the floor.

"He's going to come… Soon…" Lulu whispered, barely audible throughout the room. Leeman's eyes widened.

"What?! Why?! I'm sure he was strong enough! I fought him!" Leeman shouted, greatly contrasting the volume of the young girl's voice.

"But he's sick!" she yelled, looking over at the eating pirate who had suddenly stopped, eyes shadowed by his hair.

He hadn't been thinking about that at the moment. It just felt like another normal adventure until then. Until he was suddenly reminded of his illness. Luffy hadn't wanted to accept it at first, but his doctor was never wrong, and it was proved only further by the statement this young girl had made.

Leeman looked at him, confused.

"Everyone gets sick at least once in their lifetime. How bad is it?" Leeman asked. Lulu opened her mouth to reply but wasn't given the chance.

"I'm dying," Luffy stated, eyes still shadowed by his hair. Leeman's already wide open eyes widened even more at that statement.

"What are you talking about?! That couldn't be true! I fought you-!" Leeman began. He soon realized there HAD been signs of illness during their fight. Like how quickly the man got tired, his coughing, and his friends unease about their captain fighting. Still, the man looked at Luffy, eyes wide with disbelief.

"How close is he? How soon will he be here?" Leeman asked. Even if Luffy was out of his ropes, it wouldn't matter. Why was he worried about this man anyway? He was a pirate, right?

"_Never judge a book by its cover, Lee. You never know what the book will be like until you read it."_

But that's how all pirates were. They kill people everywhere they go without mercy. They treat everyone around them like dogs and steal their treasure.

"_Leeman! Stay safe until I come back! Make lots of friends so that you don't get lonely without me!"_

"_No! Don't leave me here! Don't go…"_

They're horrible. Despicable. Dirty.

"_Kahaha! Kid, you've got guts! I like you! If you brats work for me, I'll keep everyone on this island safe!"_

"_Really?!"_

"_Of course! I might be a pirate, but I will always keep my word!"_

But still… Somehow, he just couldn't hate this man.

"-man? Helloooo?" a small hand waved in front of his face, disrupting his thoughts.

"Huh? What?" Leeman said, slapping her hand away from his face gently.

"I was telling you where the Boss probably is! But…" Lulu looked nervously at the pirate sitting by the wall, "Are you sure you want to help him? He's a pirate! Not only a pirate, but a captain! With a big bounty!"

"Bounty?" Leeman asked. He knew the man was strong, but he didn't know he had a bounty. If he really looked at the kid, though, he looked pretty familiar.

"Yeah! HUGE! And he's the one who went into Impel Down and Marineford to save his brother!" the girl said, spreading her arms out to show him how big of a bounty she was talking about. She hadn't noticed the pirate pausing his meal for the second time.

Leeman looked at Luffy for what felt like the millionth time that day. That was the same kid? It was pretty funny. That was the only pirate he had ever admired, and somehow, he had gotten to fight him. Not only that, but he was sitting in the same room. Dying.

"Oh yeah, but his brother died and-!" Lulu was interrupted by a rubber hand covering her mouth and a threatening look from the pirate.

"Shut up," Luffy said.

Lulu started sweating nervously, escaping from the pirate's hand and running to hide behind the doorframe yet again.

"I'm going to help him," Leeman stated, looking at Luffy. The stupid pirate captain had acted like nothing happened.

"Well… You might not have enough time…" Lulu said.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Leeman asked.

"Well, he was passing the kitchen when I came…" Lulu said, rubbing the back of her neck and easing out of her hiding spot slowly.

"That close?!" Leeman yelled.

"The kitchen? I wanna-!" Luffy began coughing violently in the middle of his statement, falling back down to the ground on his knees.

"You want to what?" a deep, scratchy voice came from the doorframe.

Leeman and Lulu both looked back fearfully from their places.

"B-boss!" they shouted simultaneously.

Luffy pulled a blood covered elbow from his face where he had been coughing into it.

"Well, it's not important anyway…" Boss said **(just so you're not confused, his name is literally Boss)**. He pulled a rope from a hook on the nearest wall next to the doorframe. Luffy tried to through a punch, but it was weak and slow. The giant man in front of him caught his fist.

"This is boring. Leeman, bring back a better catch next time… Unless you want me to break my promise, that is," the man stated, laughing evilly.

Luffy was tied up and hung to the ceiling in a room with blood stains covering the floor and walls. It was far enough from the mirrors opposite him that no blood reached. Leeman and Lulu stood in front of those mirrors, looking guiltier than Luffy did after eating all of the food in the fridge when Sanji forgot to lock it every once in a while. Lulu had begun to cry already, and Leeman lowered his sunglasses to cover his eyes and looked away after mouthing a 'sorry' his way.

At first he was confused. What was going on? Why was he tied up? It was very late afternoon, he could see. The room around him was darkening quickly as the sun finally escaped to the other side of the Earth. It was almost completely dark when Boss had entered the room. As Boss approached him, he could see that he was wearing spiked gloves.

"You were supposed to be pretty strong, right? A shame you got sick. But if you tell me where all of your strongest men are, I'll let you go," Boss stated, "And if you don't…"

The man hadn't any need to finish his sentence as he lifted up his fist. Now that Luffy thought about it, this was almost just like that time when he had been asked where Ace's and Sabo's treasure was hidden. He was beaten until past sunset, so long that he couldn't have told the pirates where the treasure was hidden even if he WANTED to. Would his crew be able to make it? He had been lucky enough once, but would he be that lucky again?

"Never," Luffy spat at the man.

Boss's face went from a smile to a frown.

"If you don't tell us how to find them, I'll make them come to me," Boss stated, hurling a spiked fist into Luffy's face.

Though his face hurt badly, he still made sure to keep his head up. He glared at the man in front of him. After another punch to the face, Luffy decided to speak, ignoring the ache in his face.

"How?" Luffy asked, "How will you make them come to you?"

"Kahahaha! You expect me to tell you, stupid brat?" Boss said. Luffy gave him a frown before he received another punch to the face.

After hours of punching the sky was starting to turn a bit brighter. Had it really only been that long? Luffy could barely keep his eyes open anymore, and his sense of time was thrown off. It felt like he had been tied up for days. He was tired. He wanted his friends. His _family_…

"Game over," Boss said, delivering the last blow.

Luffy fell unconscious in the rope that trapped him, the last thoughts on his mind before everything going back were his friends. He hoped they would be okay.

***On The Sunny With Franky***

The pirates had met up once after a few hours, all looking worried. Their captain was taken, and their worry only shot higher after an hour had passed and Luffy wasn't returned. Franky was left alone again on the Sunny, just in case something happened. Just in case Luffy returned, though it was unlikely. They agreed to meet up at the ship every hour for a few minutes to see progress. If anybody didn't return to the ship, it meant they had found something, which meant that everyone would go searching for the missing member. Miki and Tomomi wanted to help, but had obligations in the village. After a few hours with absolutely no results, the sky began to lighten up. The group had left from its sixth or seventh meeting – Franky couldn't remember – about ten minutes ago, leaving the shipwright alone again.

He sat alone, working on a little trinket below beck before he heard a large thud from above deck, along with violent coughing. When he reached the deck, he found his captain laying bloody and beaten on the ground next to a slip of paper, his coughing subsiding.

"Luffy?! What happened?!" Franky panicked. He went to grab the den den mushi **(XD it just felt so wrong calling them 'snail phones' for some reason… so I'm just gonna use 'den den mushi' instead!)** from below deck quickly. The group had bought a set of them in town so that they could get it contact, but only in serious emergencies.

Luffy barely opened his eyes to look at Franky.

"F-Franky…?" Luffy whispered, barely audible. He coughed again, his throat not able to take any of the vibrations from speaking. This was bad. Franky was not a doctor, and he needed Chopper there more than ever.

He dialed Robin's snail phone, knowing that Chopper had followed the mysterious archaeologist from way back after the first time they split up.

_Purupurupurupuru! Purupurupu-!_

"Franky? What's goi-!" Robin began.

"It's Luffy! He's back! I need Chopper, now!" Franky shouted, interrupting Robin and almost destroying the ears of the two listening with his volume. The panicking shipwright wouldn't have known, but the woman and reindeer both had their eyes widened. They didn't need a second warning as they hung up the den den mushi after telling him they were on their way.

Franky watched Luffy carefully as he called the other groups. Zoro and Brook had almost gotten lost thanks to a certain mosshead, and Nami and Sanji were about to head back anyway to begin planning for the talent show. They trusted the other two groups to find Luffy, and if they couldn't get that medicine, he would end up dead whether they found him or not.

All three groups showed up on the Sunny quite quickly, shocked to see Luffy's state.

"Luffy! What happened to you?!" Ussop asked worriedly.

"I need to treat him immediately! Would someone bring him to the infirmary for me? Carefully!" Chopper said quickly. Zoro was the first to offer help, angry with himself for not being able to prevent his captain from getting hurt so bad.

As Chopper began treating Luffy's injuries, Robin spotted the slip of paper next to where her captain had laid. She read it slowly, unnoticed by the rest of her crewmates who were busy helping out in some way or another or were standing at the infirmary door.

_Pirates,_

_Your captain was as fun to play with as I thought he would be! He was a nice testing subject for my new weapons. I would enjoy another play session soon! Send someone strong! Maybe it'll make up for how quick your sick crappy captain went down. My base is in the forest surrounding the river. I have something you will want, so if I were you, I wouldn't pass up this fight. Come soon, weakling pirates!_

_X BOSS X_

"What's this?" Ussop said glancing over Robin's shoulder. Nami frowned over Robin's other shoulder.

"What the heck is with the way this is written?" Nami said. It was as if he were writing to children! How disrespectful!

Ussop read it over closely a few times and his face became twisted in anger more and more with each read-through.

"WHAT DOES HE MEAN 'PLAY'?! 'TESTING SUBJECT'?!" Ussop shouted angrily, "'SICK CRAPPY CAPTAIN'?! WHO DOES HE THINK HE'S TALKING ABOUT?! I WANNA KILL HIM!"

"U-Ussop, calm down!" Nami said, though she herself was just as angry. How could he call this playing? It was just sick and despicable. Their captain had already been through enough lately. Surely he couldn't be stupid enough not to notice that SOMETHING was wrong. Seriously, he couldn't even eat as much as he used to! And somehow, she even MISSED it! She wanted to see her dumb energetic captain back! It just wasn't fair! Nami placed a comforting hand on Ussop's shoulder and looked at the paper.

Calming down, Ussop looked at Nami. Of course, everyone would be just as mad after reading that stupid note. He needed to get a hold of himself. He lowered Nami's hand and grabbed the paper from where it had been dropped after Ussop and Nami took it to inspect. He looked at it intently. They would end this ridiculous game.

**(YAAAAY~! I finished another chapter so sooooon~! I hope you loved it! Please give feedback! Also, I would like to ask you readers 2 questions!**

**When you start a new page, is that what leaves the line in between sections of writing? I've always wondered how people did that… And…**

**Should I up the rating? I asked earlier too, but thought it'd be better to ask it this way XD**

**Okay! Sorry if there was anything you didn't like! Feedback, plz! Actually, if you don't like the story, STOP reading it! Geez! Don't you random haters have anything better to do? Lol thx for reading! Hope you keep enjoying! Sorry if updates are all wacky! Welp! I'm out! Bai bai! Meow meow!)**


	8. Chapter 8: Question Corner

**(*gasp* I discovered a horrible truth! The song I said for you to listen to in the last chapter, [Mayumi Tanaka] Luffy's Tribute Song For Ace, was actually sung by some other person with a K in their name! *cries in a corner***

**And I was so convinced it was Mayumi Tanakaaa~! ****T^T I'm sorryyyyy~! But hey! ****He (or should I say she?) still sings good in the other song!**

**I know what you're thinking… You're so cruel! I had Luffy beat up! I'm sorry, but it was necessary! So please be happy with this chapter as an apology gift, though it is kind of later than I wanted to give it to you! I've been drowning in confusing school work… But I'm trying hard for you! Just for you, my friends!**

**Disclaimer: C'mon! I don't even need this! You KNOW who owns One Piece, and if you don't, you should look it up, because it's definitely not me!)**

_Chapter 8: Question Corner_

After a very late snack, the band of pirates found themselves sleeping. Well, all of the pirates except for Robin, who was the lookout. Sanji had offered to take her place, but she declined politely. She wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. After everyone had eaten a snack, Robin had noticed another piece of paper flutter down to the deck through the window in the galley door. Excusing herself to 'use the restroom', she left the room and grabbed the paper before heading to the restroom and reading it alone.

_Straw Hat Pirates,_

_We know your captain is very sick, but we can't help you for fear of our lives. We're sorry that he was beaten so badly, and even more sorry that we weren't able to do anything. After our doctor, Lulu, did some research, she found a cure for it. You will need to compete in the talent show being held one week from now in this town to get it. We will be participating too, and promise to give you all of the reward as an apology if we win. Here's some advice; singing is the most likely way for you to win this talent show. If any of you can sing well, do it._

_Oh, and one more thing! Tell Luffy to cheer up when he wakes up since you guys found the cure! When he told us, he looked scary! Really scary!_

_We're very sorry!_

_Anonymous_

It took even her a moment to process what the note read. Luffy himself had told them.

Nami was beginning to get worried. What was taking Robin so long in the restroom? She was never gone this long from the dinner table, no matter what she excused herself for. Grabbing something, going to the restroom, fetching anyone who had yet to come to the galley for a meal, NOTHING! As she stood up to excuse herself and go looking for Robin, the archaeologist herself walked through the galley door and sat down at the table with a troubled face. Zoro, whom Sanji had left outside since he was asleep and hadn't responded to multiple snack calls, Franky, who had taken his snack below deck while he worked on something (and inevitably dozed off), and Ussop, who had headed off to bed only a few minutes ago after eating his own snack, trailed into the galley a few moments after Robin.

"So? What are we all gathered here for?" Zoro said grumpily. His normal nap had come later than usual, seeing as they were searching for Luffy, and left him slightly grumpier than usual.

"This," Robin said, spreading out the note on the table for everyone to see.

After a few minutes of quiet reading had passed, everyone began to look up at Robin.

"Where did you even find this?" Nami asked.

Before the first question could be answered, another one sprang up.

"Singing?" Ussop asked, slightly confused as to why it would be singing in particular that would help them.

"Can any of us sing well at all? I don't think any of us have actually tried to sing seriously around each other before. Although, we don't even need to hear the marimo to know how awful he'll be," Sanji said.

"Heh! At least I wouldn't have the voice of a stupid love cook like you," Zoro challenged. The men both growled and fought with each other before Nami whacked them both on the head, sending them to the ground.

"I'm trying to think here!" Nami yelled at them as she stormed back over to her seat and dropped down into it with a huff.

Robin frowned at them slightly. None of them had noticed what she wanted them to notice. Of course, if they could figure it out themselves, that would be much better.

Nami seemed to notice something was wrong with a glance at Robin's barely noticeable frown. She turned her attention to the paper sprawled out on the dining table, reading it over a few times before it clicked in her head.

"What's wrong, my dear Nami-san?" Sanji said, coming from the kitchen where he had retreated into to stand next to her.

"This is… No way! How?" she said, so focused on the paper she hadn't noticed Sanji's arrival at her side nor his question.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Zoro said, coming to stand by Nami's other side, looking at the paper she was holding with so much intensity it seemed like it would burn a hole through it.

"I don't get it, what are you-!" Ussop had been reading it from over the top of Nami's head, since both places beside her were taken. But with enough focus and rereading, he had also noticed what Nami and Robin were both so focused on.

"You guys are all confusing me. What's going on?" Franky said, wishing he could just go to bed, but also curious of what Nami, Robin, and Ussop had all three found out.

"Yeah, will someone fill me in?" Zoro said. He was angry that these mystery people had sat by and watched their captain get beaten, but they had apologized, and also informed them on a way to heal their captain. Even so, with all of that, he didn't see what was so shocking.

"He knows!" Ussop and Nami announced in unison while Robin smiled slightly, happy that at least _someone_ had noticed the more surprising content of the message.

"Knows? Who knows what?" Sanji asked, looking at Ussop curiously (if he looked at Nami or Robin, he knew he would be more focused on THEM than the message).

Ussop carefully took the paper from Nami's hands and spread it out, invisibly underlining two sentences with his finger.

_Tell Luffy to cheer up when he wakes up since you guys found the cure! When he told us, he looked scary!_

Suddenly the message seemed to click in Zoro's, Sanji's, and Franky's heads.

"How did he know he was sick?" Sanji asked to no one in particular. Obviously none of them had told him, or it wouldn't be so shocking to see this message.

Suddenly, the galley door swung open once again and Brook came in quickly, announcing that Luffy was awake. Shoving their current thoughts to the back of their minds, the people occupying the galley ran out of the room and into the infirmary, where Chopper sat in a chair next to the infirmary bed and Luffy sat up and was putting his hat on his head.

"It wasn't cut! Thank god!" Luffy said, rubbing his hat with his hand happily as he watched his friends stream into the galley. He waved and smiled brightly, shocking Robin (though she didn't show it at all), Nami, Sanji, Franky, Zoro, and Ussop. He was so positive, knowing death was around the corner. Well, except now that they knew a way to get a cure for him, they were going to make sure they got it.

"Yo!" Luffy said, as if he weren't sitting in the infirmary and bandaged all over.

"What do you mean 'Yo!'?! Where were you? What happened?" Nami asked angrily. She hadn't meant to snap at him, but she was seriously worried that her captain would be killed! How was she supposed to act?

"…" Luffy looked at her with a blank face before he suddenly wrinkled his nose and a thoughtful expression took place. It was all a little blurry to him. He remembered a weird man named Boss asking him questions about his crew he refused to answer. Suddenly he thought of Ace and Sabo as he remembered fully what had happened. An eternity of spikes and tightening rope until he wasn't able to make a sound of protest. Just like that time so many years ago, except there were no brothers there to come and save him. Sabo was now off somewhere with the revolutionary army, and Ace was… Well, he was where he was.

He didn't want to think about that.

"Ah! Are you hungry?" Sanji asked. Luffy's eyes widened in surprise. Sure, he was sick, and now he sported many deep cuts across his body, but it seemed weird that Sanji had asked. Not that it was necessary. Of course he was hungry after a whole night without food. Normally, he could barely go a few hours without food before he would begin complaining at his loudest, so a whole night was almost as torturous as the spiked gloves themselves!

Luffy grinned ear-to-ear. It was all that Sanji needed to see as he turned and stepped out of the slightly crowded infirmary. The sounds of running water and clattering dishes could be heard after a few moments, signaling that Sanji had begun cooking.

"How do you feel?" Ussop asked Luffy after it had been silent for a decent amount of time as everyone silently debated with themselves about whether or not they should speak. Luffy looked at him and his grin slightly faded as he remembered that long night again.

"My face stings, and I'm kinda thirsty, but I feel fine," Luffy stated, his grin automatically widening again after he answered. It wasn't worth bothering himself about, though he was still concerned about the safety of his crew.

Chopper scribbled down notes on his clipboard with a focused face. He had been writing since Luffy woke, and had only stopped to ask Luffy how he was feeling and to tell Brook to inform the others of this. Suddenly the little reindeer looked up from his clipboard, his face just as serious.

"Luffy…" he said, gaining the attention of everyone in the room, "What happened last night? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it… But it would help me treat you if I knew what caused your injuries."

Of course, that was only half true. He didn't need to know the cause of the deep gashes in his captain to treat them, but it would be useful to know if poison was on the weapons, or if he drank or ate anything suspicious.

"Oh! I met these two really funny people!" Luffy said, "Banana-Eyes and Glasses! They were really nice, and they even gave me some food! But then their big Boss dude came – his name was really Boss! – and he was really HUGE-!"

He seemed to notice everyone looking at him with slight impatience. They were happy that their captain was happy and excited as always, but they really wanted to know what had happened to their captain that got him hurt so badly.

He started squirming uncomfortably in the bed and his grin faded slowly.

"_Did he challenge someone to an unreasonable fight?" _Nami thought to herself, _"No. That note said they watched him get __**beaten**__, not that they watched a fight."_

"_What kind of weapon could have done __**this**__?" _Ussop had also remembered the careful wording of the note. Their captain was beaten, though? With what? Blunt attacks didn't work on Luffy, meaning it had to be something sharp. He glanced at Zoro for a moment, and then back at Luffy. They weren't sword wounds, though. He wasn't a swordsman like Zoro (who was, in fact, the closest to the infirmary bed aside from Chopper), but he could tell the gashes were different than sword attacks. They didn't seem to be slices from a knife either.

"What happened to me isn't important," Luffy said suddenly, the rare serious look on his face surprising his nakama as he spoke, "He's looking for you."

Everyone looked at him in confusion, and then turned their heads to look at each other.

"Who?" Ussop asked.

"All of you." Luffy's face was slightly less tense than when he had made his little 'announcement', but the serious face remained.

"Huh? Why?" Nami asked as Sanji walked in. Luffy looked at Sanji for a moment, but the cook held no food, meaning that whatever he cooked was either boiling in a pot or something similar.

"I don't know," Luffy stated, the serious look leaving his face, replaced with a thoughtful expression. The man had said strong people, meaning he wanted a good fight, right? But he didn't really know, so he didn't comment any further.

"What'd I miss?" Sanji asked and looked around at everyone curiously.

"Someone's apparently looking for us, and Luffy met some weirdoes," Franky said. Sanji gave him an odd look. As if a man who wore a speedo everywhere he went could call people weird. But then again, they were all kind of weird, and they had also met people who went far beyond weird. Those kinds of people had earned the right to officially be called 'freaks'.

"Looking for us? Why?" Sanji looked at their captain hopefully.

"He doesn't know," Ussop answered for Luffy.

"…"

It was completely silent as everyone seemed to lose themselves in thought. Sanji turned to head out and finish cooking as Nami yawned.

"Well, I'm beat! We can talk more tomorrow," Nami said, breaking the silence. As she turned to leave behind Sanji, a disembodied hand appeared in front of her.

"Hm?" Nami looked back at Robin curiously.

"There is something we need to talk about now, Navigator-san," Robin said as more disembodied hands pulled a slightly crumpled paper out of her bag that she had brought along on their journey through the city earlier.

"Oh!" Nami, Chopper, and Brook all seemed to remember at the same time about the prize for the talent show a week away.

Chopper looked at Luffy nervously for a moment. The little reindeer hadn't been in the galley to witness their discovery, and therefore did not know that their captain was already aware of his deathly illness.

"But he-!" Chopper began as Robin summoned a hand to his mouth to quiet him.

"He knows," Robin said, now looking directly at Luffy, "Don't you, Captain-san?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked. The question was sudden and though Luffy did know, he didn't understand the question. Chopper's nervous glances towards Luffy turned into a curious stare.

"About your illness," Robin finished. Luffy's eyes widened. How did they know that he knew? He hadn't mentioned anything about it. But then again, it wasn't exactly a secret, he just hadn't said anything because it was an uncomfortable topic.

"Yeah…" Luffy said, suddenly shifting his gaze from Robin and Chopper to the bedsheets.

"We have some interesting news for you," Robin said, and as quickly as Luffy had looked away, he looked back, "We can get a cure."

Luffy's eyes widened and a grin brighter than the sun itself appeared on his face. He looked like a child who had been given a special treat, and no one in the room could blame him.

"Wait, a cure? Lemme see that," Zoro said, walking up and grabbing the paper from Robin's hands. He scanned over the rewards section carefully before finding the object of interest. In addition to a shocking amount of beri, there was also a picture of a medicine bottle, which had to be what they were looking for. He grinned slightly, barely noticeable, sending Luffy into an excited hopping motion, as if he just couldn't contain his happiness. Franky snatched the paper from Zoro next, looking at it with Ussop. As soon as the two men caught sight of it, they began dancing around like idiots and they laughed happily with Luffy, who had climbed out of bed against doctor's orders to release his happiness and excitement.

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Robin said, crushing the mood as quickly as it had come, "We don't know if any of us can sing well, other than Brook. More participants means more of a chance to win, but if none of us can sing very well, it will be much harder, and we may lose,"

Luffy looked at her with a pout on his face.

"We'll win, Robin!" Luffy said, the grin returning to his face. Then he seemed to suddenly remember something and the grin faded slightly as he tried to recall it.

"Oh yeah! The banana guy gave me food because I sang Binks Sake! Weird, huh?" Luffy asked as his grin (yet again) returned (Luffy's been making a lot of faces this chapter T_T lol).

Robin looked at Luffy with curiosity as Nami yawned loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in the room and Sanji entered with some steaming food.

"Well, we can finish talking tomorrow," Robin said, reclaiming the paper from Franky's large hands and putting it back into her bag, "For now we should all rest and you can eat."

Luffy nodded and looked at the food that Sanji had set on a table near the infirmary bed, drooling. Even if they continued their conversation now, Luffy would have all of his attention on the food, and everyone else would be too tired to pay attention.

Everyone streamed out of the galley, leaving Sanji and Chopper alone with Luffy as everyone went to bed except for Robin, who was still on lookout duty.

The next morning, everyone woke up early. After a fulfilling breakfast (it seemed Luffy had mostly regained his appetite, though not entirely, much to his nakama's pleasure), everyone settled themselves into comfortable positions on the Sunny's deck, ready to begin their mission of singing tryouts, which Ussop and Franky had named the Sing-or-Screech Operation.

"Let's do this!" Luffy shouted, followed by a loud happy agreement from the crew as they began.

**(Yay! I wish I could've made this longer, but this seemed like a great place to stop. And also, if I didn't stop here, it would be another day or two or possibly three before I could update the chapter. Thank you for your patience! I would love to hear your opinions, so leave a review if you've got the time! Thanks! Oh, and sorry for any grammar mistakes I may have missed in this chapter. I noticed some when I went hunting through chapter 7, and I guarantee it won't be the last time I make mistakes like that. Thanks for reading! Until next time! :D)**


	9. Chapter 9: We Are!

**(I'm impressed with myself at the moment! I've been working all day, but I got up and did some boxing on the Wii, and now I feel SUPER energized [and thirsty]! Enough so that I can already begin working on this new chapter! Sadly, I haven't been seeing many reviews lately, but I keep working anyways, because I know even without seeing any reviews that there are people who are enjoying this at least a little bit! Enough with the negativity! On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Luffy! He said so himself!)**

_Chapter 9: We Are!_

The afternoon of singing tryouts began enthusiastically... But quickly became angry and loud as everyone debated who would go first. Eventually, Brook was nominated as the first singer, since everyone had heard him sing many times before, and it would hopefully calm them down and make them feel less nervous. Sure enough, the next volunteer turned out to be Ussop, who had gathered up all of his self-confidence and belted out a song of great adventures and knights and dragons.

Chopper followed in Ussop's steps, singing a song that Robin prepared for him. She looked at him happily, waiting for him to sing as she sat quietly next to Nami.

"For Luffy!" Chopper said, grinning as he thrust a little hoof into the air. Most present clapped and whooped, encouraging their little reindeer doctor as Robin began humming the tune of his song and Brook noticed what song he would be singing. Brook pulled out his violin and played the melody as Chopper sang his song. His voice was cute and high pitched, matching the song perfectly.

Franky offered to go next. His song was very loud and boisterous, the same as his voice. Everyone hummed a bit as Brook played his guitar for Franky, the melody cheering them up and making the situation seem like everything was back to normal. Franky's voice was far from professional, but it wasn't bad either, giving him at least a small chance.

Robin offered to go next, surprising everyone. She usually seemed quite reserved, though many of the present remembered a time when they helped an ex-marine perform a play after his main actors walked out on him. Nami had been the one to offer assistance, but Robin was by far the one most entertained by acting on stage, dancing and singing all over the place as if it were a musical.

What surprised them even more was her voice, it wasn't the same as when they had performed, when she had been purely enjoying the moment. This time, much more effort was put into her singing. Her voice was beautiful, making everyone smile happily with approval (except for Brook, though he would be smiling if he had skin and muscles to smile with). When she finished, nearly everyone applauded as they had for the others who had already taken their turn.

Ussop tried to make Zoro go until he was threatened and abandoned his mission, screaming that Zoro was going to kill him. Chopper soon joined in Ussop's screaming for the fun of it and ran around the deck in circles as everyone debated who would go next.

"I think…" Nami began.

"Zoro should go next…" Sanji finished as the two both turned their heads to look at Zoro evilly. Zoro, who had just woken up from another nap when Ussop had asked him if he would sing next, glared daggers at them. Nami was scared and backed off, but Sanji began fighting with Zoro, and soon enough Nami had them both on the ground with giant lumps on their heads.

"Fine! I'll go, since these two idiots won't stop fighting!" Nami huffed.

Once everyone had calmed down, Brook grabbed his guitar and began strumming. Nami's song was very upbeat and she sounded very good singing it. Luffy, Ussop, Chopper, and Franky clapped to the beat and Sanji spun in circles in his spot with hearts in place of eyes. By the end of the song, Sanji was feeling inspired by his dear Nami-san and decided that he would sing next so that Zoro didn't make her look bad.

Sanji looked slightly embarrassed, singing in front of everyone, but when he imagined losing to the idiot swordsman, he began singing louder and more clearly. His voice was also good, surprisingly so. Ussop and Chopper cheered him on as Luffy laughed and clapped his hands off-beat.

Lastly came Zoro, who refused over and over again until Nami threatened to raise his debt and Sanji said he wasn't good enough to beat him. When he DID finally agree, he stayed in his spot and did nothing, causing nearly everyone to pout or complain or both. Luffy scooted across the deck to sit in front of Zoro.

"Oiiiii~! Zorooooo~! Siiiiiiing~!" Luffy pouted.

"I will! Just give me some time!" Zoro grumbled.

"Time for what?" Nami asked.

"What are you going to sing, Swordsman-san?" Robin asked before Zoro had enough time to answer the first question.

He looked away from everyone with a frown. "I…"

"I bet he doesn't even have a clue what to sing!" Sanji laughed. Nami whacked him on the head, sending him to the ground and ending his laughter. They didn't need Sanji discouraging Zoro any more than he already was. When she looked back though, she was quite surprised.

Zoro had his head turned so that nobody could see his face, but his ears were red. Had he ever sang in front of anyone before? A few of them probably hadn't, but for someone like Zoro, it was probably much more embarrassing. She felt slightly sympathetic and was about to ask Brook to help Zoro before Luffy spoke up.

"I'll sing! Shishishi!" Luffy said, grinning. The whole crew stared at him in horror. They had heard him singing before, and he had a voice bad enough to kill a bird.

"Umm… But, Luffy your throat is probably feeling really dry right now, right? How about you just relax while we find out what Zoro's going to sing!" Nami offered, making her captain pout.

"But I wanna siiiiiing~! And my throat doesn't feel dry! Everyone else is singing seriously, so I wanna try toooo~!" Luffy whined.

Nami thought about it for a moment.

"_Everyone else is singing seriously,"?_

"Oh!" Nami said, bringing her fist into her palm as she thought, gaining everyone's attention.

"_That's right! Normally we don't even try to actually sing! We're all just having fun! So what if HE normally does that too? We all sang much better than we normally do in our fun, carefree voices!"_ Nami thought.

"Okay, fine! You sing! It'll give Zoro some time to think about what he is going to sing, and you can have some fun!" Nami said. Luffy grinned ear-to-ear as she spoke, greatly contrasting the pout that had been there only moments before.

Nami really hoped she was right, otherwise they wouldn't have ears anymore.

"Yay! Thank you Nami!" Luffy said, hopping up and down excitedly.

Brook walked up to him and helped him sit on a crate in the middle where everyone had been standing when it had been their turn (except Zoro, who had yet to think of a song to sing). Luffy suddenly seemed to think of something and

"Oi, Zoro!" Luffy said, waving his green-haired swordsman friend in his direction. Zoro walked over to Luffy and Luffy gestured for him to come closer. Luffy whispered something to Zoro and they had a quiet discussion that no one could hear. Zoro looked slightly aggravated and defeated by the time the tiny conversation was over, and Luffy smiled like a king.

"Hey everyone! Zoro's gonna sing with me!" Luffy announced with that huge grin that they were all so familiar with. Zoro looked annoyed, but it quickly seemed to dissolve into relief as he realized he now had a song to sing AND he wouldn't have to sing the whole song. Now Luffy was whispering into Brook's ear, most likely telling him what he wanted him to play.

"Yohohoho! Good pick, Luffy-san!" Brook laughed as he raised his violin, ready to begin at a moment's notice.

Luffy seemed to realize without needing Zoro's word that he needed some time to compose himself before they began, so he told Brook that they would be a few minutes. Luffy gave Zoro a terrible pep talk, but Zoro was still pleased with his effort. Even though he still seemed – and this was a very weird word to associate with the swordsman – nervous, he had had enough time to ready himself, and was ready to begin.

Luffy gestured to Brook to begin, and suddenly the melody of Binks' Sake carried itself across the deck full of excited pirates. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise and in familiarity to the song. They were singing this? But Luffy sounded horrible when he sang this! Nami groaned, wondering if this was really a good idea. That is, until Luffy started singing.

The widened eyes of everyone on the deck widened even more, and Zoro's eyes widened from his spot next to Luffy as well. Luffy's singing was actually _good_. Better, in fact, than almost everyone else's voices. After the first verse, the singing switched to Zoro, who sang the second verse, surprising everyone even _more_! He was just as good as Luffy! After that, the singing went back to Luffy, who sang the third verse, and then back to Zoro to finish.

After the music stopped, there wasn't any clapping. Everyone was staring at them in amazement and shock. Maybe they would win after all! Sanji certainly wouldn't admit that even _he _had thought the two idiots had good singing voices, but he was now much more hopeful.

The first to clap was little Chopper, followed by Ussop, Franky, and Nami. Then Robin began clapping quietly and Brook clapped loudly after his violin went back into the safety of its case.

Luffy blinked innocently, wondering why everyone was clapping so loudly, and Zoro's ears turned red, but otherwise he looked normal. Then Luffy offered Zoro a high five (which Zoro returned) and cheered happily because everyone else was happy, for whatever reason.

"Captain-san and Swordsman-san seem to not be aware of their own singing capabilities," Robin said thoughtfully. Nami agreed with a short humming-sound before she spoke.

"I think we _all_ seemed to be unaware of our singing capabilities. Oi, Brook! Come here for a moment, please!" Nami shouted over the loud shouts of happiness and praise coming from her crewmates gathered around Luffy and Zoro.

"Yes, Nami-san?" Brook said as he walked up to her, "What is it?"

"I think we should all sing a song together!" Nami suggested, "We all seem to be pretty good, after all."

"That's a great idea! Yohohoho!" Brook approved, "The thought of us all singing together as a crew makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy – ah! Though I don't have a heart! Yohohoho!"

***Later that evening, after dinner time in the galley***

All day long since the little 'tryout session' was over, Brook had been working tirelessly on a new song which could go with all of their voices. He also had to be sure to make a revised version of the song just in case their captain was to start feeling worse before they could perform. He looked at his work, proud of how much he had finished in the span of a few hours.

"Yohohohoho! I'm exhausted!" Brook said, laying in his chair in an unnatural way.

"Need some water, Brook?" Sanji asked.

Brook didn't answer and Sanji brought a glass of iced water over anyway.

"Thank you, Sanji-san! I thought I was about to die! Oh, but I'm already dead! Yohohohoho!" Brook said.

"Just shut up and get back to work," Sanji said as he walked back into the kitchen.

Brook began working again (rather loudly) as Luffy came into the galley.

"Sanji, food!" Luffy ordered.

"You just ate, ya rubber-brained idiot," Sanji said.

He was honestly confused, but he didn't show it. Sure, it was nice that Luffy wanted to eat again, but now he asked for food even _more _often than usual! Sanji had to decline him constantly. If he let the idiot eat every time he got hungry, there wouldn't be any food left in the kitchen.

"Here, eat this," Sanji said, tossing a single apple in Luffy's direction.

When Luffy caught it, he shoved the whole thing in his mouth and asked for more. When Sanji declined him any more food, he went to bother Brook.

"Oi, Brook, whatcha doing?" Luffy asked curiously. He didn't know how to read music, and didn't really care to look at the papers in front of his musician for more than a few seconds. They were too confusing.

"I'm writing a song for everyone to sing together," Brook replied, never looking away from his work.

"A song? Oh yeah! That's right, we were gonna do that right?" Luffy said, turning to look back at Sanji, "Sanji~! Food~!"

Sanji looked at him in annoyance for a moment before turning away silently.

"Luffy-san, would you like to hear the tune of the song?" Brook asked in an attempt to distract Luffy from his hunger.

"Hm? Yeah!" Luffy said, suddenly forgetting all about the kitchen.

Mission accomplished.

Brook pulled out his guitar and played a soft tune which suddenly turned into a loud, happy tune. Luffy clapped his hands to the music and bounced around enthusiastically while Sanji tapped his foot in the kitchen and washed the dishes. When Brook began humming along, Sanji guessed that was where the words began. The song was very catchy and Luffy loved it so much, he declared it to be his new 'theme song'.

"That was so cooool~! Play it again! Again!" Luffy said, laughing and bouncing around still.

"I must finish the song soon, Luffy-san. I can't play it again right now, though I would really enjoy doing so," Brook stated as he turned back to his work.

"Aww…" Luffy pouted and turned back to Sanji. "Can I have some food now?"

"GO BOTHER SOMEONE ELSE, IDIOT!" Sanji said as he kicked Luffy out of the kitchen.

Luffy brushed himself off quickly after he stood up and ran up to Ussop.

"USSOOOOOP~! Let's play tag!" Luffy shouted as he got closer.

"Okay, okay! But be ready for your defeat!" Ussop said as Luffy tapped him with his finger.

"You're it!" Luffy yelled and ran away at breakneck speed.

"W-Wait! Get back here!"

"NEVER~!"

Chopper came bursting out of the infirmary to join, startling Ussop long enough for him to say "Can't catch me!" and run away.

"Wha…? Oh, darn it!" Ussop said as he chased after Chopper and Luffy.

He accidently tripped over a boot in the middle of the floor and woke a napping green-haired swordsman. Zoro woke up grumbling about noise and his foot, yawning and looking around, trying to find the source of his disturbed nap. Ussop ran away as if _he _were being chased and screamed about Zoro trying to kill him.

"What's his problem?" Zoro mumbled as he leaned back against the railing to resume his nap.

After Ussop turned the corner, Luffy came out from hiding behind the infirmary door along with Chopper, who had followed him for some reason even he himself did not know.

"Zoroooo~!" Luffy whispered.

Zoro cracked a sleepy eye open and grunted in response.

"Shhhhh~!" Chopper said, lifting a tiny hoof up to his mouth.

"YOHOHOHOHO! IT'S FINALLY DONE!" Brook shouted as he came bursting through the galley door to the deck.

"EYAAAAAAAH~!" Luffy and Chopper screamed in unison, shocked from their hiding places.

Ussop came up behind them and tapped Luffy on the shoulder, who tapped Chopper on the arm. It quickly turned into a tapping fight until Brook began speaking again.

"Luffy-san, Chopper-san, Ussop-san, would you like to hear the song?" he asked.

The boys' eyes twinkled with excitement and the agreed loudly, putting their hands down and ending their game of 'tag'.

"Would you all please gather the others to hear it as well?" Brook requested, turning to head back into the galley.

***A few minutes later in the galley with everyone gathered***

"I can't believe you finished the song so fast! And the tune is SUPER awesome, if I do say so myself!" Franky said, striking a pose in his seat.

"Yes, it is quite catchy, Brook-san," Robin said.

With a happy laugh, Brook began passing out sheets of paper.

"Hm? What's this?" Chopper asked from his seat next to Zoro.

"They're lyrics, Chopper! We get to sing together!" Nami said, giving him a bright smile.

"Sing together?" Chopper asked with sparkling eyes, "Really? That sounds so fun!"

"Shishishi! Of course it's fun! Pirates love singing!" Luffy laughed happily while he bounced around excitedly in his seat.

"They do?" Chopper asked innocently.

"Yeah! Especially Binks' Sake!" Luffy said as he began to sing in his 'this is just for fun and it doesn't matter if I sound good' voice.

"Luffy!" Ussop said as he covered his ears.

"Hahaha! So, what does this thing say?" Luffy said after he stopped singing and looked at the paper.

After a long time of trying to get Luffy to understand the words on the paper, they could finally begin practicing. But after a few tries, they _all_ needed Brook's help to get the timing right. The singing began after the melody of the song had already begun, and a few of them thought the start was earlier or later than it really was until Brook was finally able to help them understand where to begin. The first time everyone got it right, they stopped to congratulate each other, excited and happy to sing a special song composed for just them to sing together as a crew.

"Okay! Let's begin!" Brook said as he played the first note of the song.

Franky cleared his throat loudly and Ussop had an overconfident smile on his face. He was especially happy since he had a section of the song all to himself, and he was still able to sing parts with everyone! Though he was a little confused by some of the pairings. Zoro and Franky were paired to sing the same section, and Sanji and Brook were paired for the one directly after that. Would the two pairs sound right together? Well, Brook knew what he was doing. He _is_ the musician, after all.

_**(Before I continue! If you haven't already noticed by the pairings, this song is, in fact, the 9 member version of 'We Are'! I wanted you to be able to be able to imagine them singing, so I settled on a very well-known song that also sounds frikin' awesome! :D Enjoy this scene in your head!)**_

This time it went much better. Nami's solo came first after everyone sang a part together, then Robin and Chopper sang a part together. Luffy sang the part after that, shocking everyone yet again with his voice. It would be hard to get used to hearing him sing like that. After another section of singing all together, Zoro and Franky sang their part, shocking everyone again. Their voices were surprisingly well together. So when Sanji and Brook went next, it almost wasn't as much of a surprise that they sounded great together as well.

Ussop finally got to sing after Sanji and Brook. He sang his solo confidently, not messing up once through the whole part. The rest of the song after that went just as well as it had been going the whole time, finished when Luffy shouted out his very last part.

"WE ARE!" he yelled, pumping his fists in the air happily.

"Yay! That was so cool!" Chopper said, "I've never done anything like that!"

"Me neither! But it was so fun!" Ussop said.

"Nami-san~! Robin-chan~! You sang like angels~!" Sanji said as he did his noodle dance over to them.

"Zoro-bro! You did good! Thanks for singing with me!" Franky said, raising his hand for a high five. Zoro didn't return his high five, but he did ask for a bottle of sake.

***Well after everyone celebrated and went off to bed***

Zoro held an almost-emptied bottle of sake and sat up in the crow's nest. He had been nominated as lookout for the night, and had absolutely nothing to do. If he fell asleep, he couldn't watch for ships, after all. He thought back to the song everyone sung together in the galley. If he was honest, he had actually had a lot of fun, though he wouldn't admit it. Then suddenly he thought of something. Nothing to do…? And everyone was asleep, too… Nobody would hear him, right?

"Tenohira no suna sarasara to ochi~"

**(Hehehehe~! I totally did that XD lol look up 'Charakter Singel – 01. Eyes of Zoro' and LISTEN TO IT! Zoro sings that song so frikin' awesome! *fangasms* Anyway… Sorry I posted this late… It's like, 3:00 AM and I'm not all that tired. I promised someone I would post it soon, and I accidently got a bit sidetracked by something and couldn't finish it until really late so… Here ya go! I was actually gonna end the chapter earlier, but this was the way I wanted it to end, and it is also necessary for the next chapter. So deal with it! Lol)**


	10. Chapter 10: Vocal Carnival

**(Hi everyone~! I checked out some library books, but I would rather write for my lovely fans at this moment… lol I hope you are happy!**

**I got inspired to write this chapter listening to 'Ussop no Hanamichi' on Youtube! Thank you Ussop! You sing very, very, very awesome! Then again, the voices of every one of the crew surprised me deeply. Even Chopper surprised me. And that was just the most adorable song I had ever heard { . }. Robin's wonderful singing of 'My Real Life'… And also… The inspiration for the beginning of this chapter… SANJI~! 'Moulin Rouge'! Frikin' most awesome awesomeness in the history of awesome songs n' stuff! And as a girl… *fangasms and nosebleeds slightly* Oops…**

**Disclaimer: I'm too busy cleaning my nosebleed for this… Just keep reading.)**

_Chapter 10: Vocal Carnival_

Zoro woke to the smell of food and a voice… Singing? What? He climbed down from the crow's nest to search for the source of the singing. His search ultimately led to the kitchen, where he found Sanji cooking and singing, completely unaware of the fact he was being watched or heard.

"Omoi tsuku kagiri kotoba onarabe hard to say na kono shichueishon~"

He watched curiously as Robin walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Zoro spun around quickly to look at Robin, whom Nami and Chopper were standing behind.

"Wow! He sings really good!" Chopper half whispered, loud enough for Zoro, Nami, and Robin to hear, but not loud enough to reach Sanji's ears.

"Bitter and Sweet ni muuran rujuu~"

"Yeah, he is pretty good," Nami said, peeking into the kitchen.

A few minutes after Sanji finished, the small group headed into the kitchen together and sat around the room. Surprising everyone, Robin began singing a song herself. Usopp (I know, I've been spelling it wrong in the other chapters… Oops!) walked into the room, and after a moment of shock, sat down next to Chopper.

"Me wo tojite wa~"

Usopp looked at her curiously and bent down near Chopper.

"Why's she singing?" he whispered into Chopper's ear.

"I don't know," Chopper replied.

"Zawaremeku kokoro toorisugite~"

"She sounds really good though…" Usopp whispered back to Chopper.

"Yeah…" Chopper whispered, "I wonder why everyone is singing today."

"Huh? Everyone? Who else?" Usopp asked.

Before Chopper could answer, Brook and Franky walked in. Franky looked grumpy, and Brook was putting his violin away. Both men both looked at Robin in confusion and shock. Why was Robin singing in the galley?

Luffy walked in as she sang the last line and sat down, clapping as Sanji sat food out on the table.

"Robin! Your song was depressing! Sing happier stuff!" Luffy said as he took meat off of his plate and ate it rather loudly.

"Yeah! Happy stuff!" Chopper agreed.

"Happy stuff?" Robin asked with a chuckle.

"No, it was beautiful, my dear Robin-chan!" Sanji said as he noodled over to her with a drink.

"Yeah, it was beautiful!" Chopper agreed as he dug into his food.

"No, not as beautiful as Sanji or Zoro…" Robin said, smiling mysteriously and taking a sip of her drink.

Both men froze immediately and stared at her wide-eyed.

"H-How did you…?" Zoro stuttered.

He was sure he was the only one awake! Or, well, he thought he was… But he shouldn't have been doing something so stupid anyway!

Robin's smile widened slightly at the shocked expressions on both men's faces.

"_Zoro_! How could you!" Luffy said.

"What?" Zoro said confusedly.

"You sang without me! How could you?" Luffy said.

"I…" Zoro couldn't finish as his ears grew red and he looked away from everyone towards a particularly interesting spot on the wall to his left.

"Sanji~! You're mean too~! Why did you all sing without me~!" Luffy whined.

Sanji sat down an extra plate of meat in front of Luffy and pretended like nothing happened, which seemed to work, seeing as Luffy seemed to forget all about singing and ate his meat.

"Thanks!" Luffy said with his mouth full of food.

"Just shut up and eat!" Sanji said.

He didn't know anyone had heard him singing, but if Robin-chan thought he sounded good, who was he to contradict her?

"Zoro-san, what exactly were you singing _about_?" Robin asked.

Zoro's ears turned red and he looked away and down at his plate for a moment before handing it to Luffy (who accepted it gratefully).

"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to go train." Zoro walked out the galley and footsteps could be heard heading to the weight room.

"…"

It was completely silent – except for Luffy's ridiculously loud eating – for a few moments until the sound of the footsteps disappeared.

"What was _that_ all about?" Usopp asked, trying to pick something off of Zoro's plate without getting his hand bitten off by Luffy on accident.

Robin just giggled a little bit before handing her finished plate to Sanji and walking out of the galley.

"I'm going too!" Nami said, putting her plate in the sink herself (much to Sanji's distress), and heading out the door, "Robin~! Wait up!"

"…"

Now Sanji, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Brook were left in the galley.

"Dat wush weerd," Luffy said, his voice muffled by the food in his mouth.

Sanji's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he sat down to eat his own food (all the commotion had left him running around the galley to serve food and the ladies' drinks).

The silence was getting to everyone quickly. Normally their meals were loud, but now nobody was speaking, trying to put together everything that had happened that morning in their heads. Well, everyone except for Luffy, who didn't really care about everyone singing alone anymore. He was just happy he got extra food.

"Oi, Chopper! I have an idea!" Usopp said suddenly, startling everyone out of the silence.

"Huh? What?" Chopper said.

Usopp leaned down by Chopper's ear and whispered something quick before they both started eating their food as quick as Luffy.

"Whaaat~? I wanna know the secret too~! Tell me~!" Luffy said in-between bites.

Usopp grinned. "You'll see, Luffy!"

Luffy pouted, then shrugged it off, realizing there was still a bit of food on his plate. He dug back into his food as Usopp and Chopper headed back out the door together, both looking excited and happy.

"What's got those brats all riled up?" Sanji mumbled after taking a drink of water.

"I don't know, but it looks fun! I want to go see too!" Franky said as he finished his food and put his plate in the sink, "See you later, bros!"

"I would like to see what they are doing too! Yohohohoho!" Brook said, rushing out the door after Franky.

As Luffy finished the last of his food, he got up to walk over to Sanji and bother him for more food.

"Sanji~!"

***With Usopp and Chopper in Usopp's workshop***

"Okay, so you got it written down?" Usopp asked an excited little Chopper.

The little reindeer bounced around excitedly. "Yeah!"

Suddenly Franky and Brook walked in and sat down with them.

"May I ask what you men are doing?" Brook asked politely, drinking some tea he got from who-knows-where.

"Hahaha! Brook! My trusted comrade! Would you like to help us with our project?" Usopp asked, basically ignoring Brook's question.

"What project?" Franky demanded, curious of what they could be planning.

Usopp pointed his thumb at his chest and grinned proudly.

"I wrote a song! And it's a special song for me and Chopper! We're gonna go sing it in town and try to make some money!" Usopp stated, not noticing an ear that had sprouted in the room.

"And how would I be able to help?" Brook asked.

"Why, of course, play some…" Usopp began.

"MUSIC!" Chopper and Usopp exclaimed simultaneously.

Suddenly a knock sounded throughout the room. Robin walked in shortly afterwards, accompanied by Nami.

"Hello? We are heading out to the island for a few hours," Robin stated, turning to face Franky, "Would you accompany us, Franky?"

"What are you heading out for?" Usopp asked.

"Just a bit of exploring," Robin replied.

"Exploring? Sounds SUPER fun!" Franky said, striking his usual pose.

Nami smiled wide, holding a paper unseen to the boys behind her back. On it were lyrics written for a song only for Robin and Nami.

As they walked away Robin asked Franky, "You can play a guitar, right Franky-san?"

"Yeah! I'm feeling SUPER musical this week!" Franky said, pulling out his acoustic guitar suddenly.

"Could you play this music?" Nami asked, handing Franky a sheet of music that she had asked Brook to write for Robin and herself.

"Hm?" Franky asked, raising his sunglasses, "What is this?"

"We are going to sing this song in town to raise funds for costumes and equipment for the performance!" Nami exclaimed, smiling happily.

Franky raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. Hadn't Usopp just told him that he and Chopper were doing the same thing? Although they hadn't said it was for costumes and equipment, it was obvious they were talking about raising money for the show.

He shrugged it off. Hey, the more money they could raise, the better, right? And with two groups raising money in town, they were sure to make more money than if only Usopp and Chopper went out.

As they climbed down off of the ship after telling Sanji they were heading out, Luffy popped his head over the railing.

"Oiii~! Franky, Nami, Robin!" Luffy shouted to them.

All three turned their heads to look at their captain.

"What is it, Captain-san?" Robin asked.

Luffy pouted. "Where are you going? I wanna come~!" Luffy said.

"Luffy, you can't come with us! You're…" Nami couldn't finish her sentence.

Even though they knew they definitely were going to earn that medicine, it still didn't feel right mentioning it.

"Sick, right? I know! But I wanna go too~!" Luffy whined.

Zoro appeared behind Luffy and dragged him to the other side of the deck and told him to shut up and sit down. Luffy sat down confusedly and leaned his head into his head in boredom.

"Take a nap or something," Zoro said before he fell asleep himself and began snoring.

Suddenly Luffy realized how tired he was. He had been jumping and dancing around yesterday and all day long since he woke up this morning, and after being beaten senseless with spiked gloves, his body wasn't exactly full of energy as normal. So he scooted over to lean on the railing near Zoro and decided he would also take a nap. He barely noticed Chopper and Usopp come running out excitedly from Usopp's workshop as he fell asleep.

***Nami, Robin, and Franky***

"I wonder if Zoro was able to keep that idiot from jumping off the ship," Nami wondered aloud as the group of three walked along the dock.

It had only been a few short minutes since they left the ship, and they were already mixed in with the crowd, looking for a good place to begin their 'mini performance'.

"I bet he did a SUPER good job! Even if Luffy tried to get off, he's probably really tired right now, so getting him to take a nap or something would be a breeze!" Franky exclaimed, unable to strike a pose in the midst of the crowd.

The large man looked around at the people and food stands surrounding them in awe.

"This place is very busy, it seems," Robin stated as she looked around.

The area they were walking in was the area that Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy had explored together. Well, not Luffy, seeing as he suddenly disappeared from their group and had wandered off with Tomomi.

After the incident, Miki and Tomomi stopped by their ship together with a few bandages and pain medicines to help out. Tomomi was feeling particularly guilty, though they had explained to her multiple times it wasn't her fault. Miki was happy that he had came back alive at all, even though she hadn't spoken to him as Tomomi had. The blonde reminded most of the crew of Usopp. She wore a pair of goggles on her forehead and had a backpack on, only wearing one of the two arm straps and the vest she wore covered a barely visible belt. Tomomi looked like she belonged in the kitchen with Sanji, wearing a maid's dress and apron. White gloves covered her hands, and her pink hair actually complemented the ensemble.

"It's SUPER packed!" Franky said, still slightly aggravated that he couldn't pose.

"You are saying 'SUPER' way too much today," Nami sighed, bringing her hand up to her forehead.

"I can't help it! I'm SU-! I'm feeling _really_ happy today!" Franky said, raising his hands in the air as if to surrender.

"How about we set up there?" Robin said, interrupting the conversation and pointing at a relatively empty area.

"Yeah, that looks great!" Nami said happily.

The group walked over to the empty space and settled in. Franky got his acoustic guitar back out and got ready to play. Though he wasn't as good as Brook, he could play his little guitar and he could read music as long as it wasn't too complicated. Luckily for him, the music sheet that Nami handed him was pretty simple. Nami and Robin stood to the side, discussing the lyrics for a few moments as Franky declared himself ready.

"Okay Franky! 1, 2, 3!" Nami exclaimed, clearing her throat quickly.

Robin looked calm as usual as Franky strummed the first note.

***Usopp and Chopper***

"I wonder if Nami and Robin would call this 'cute'…" Usopp wondered aloud as he and Chopper looked at two figures sleeping against the railing.

"I dunno… What does a girl think 'cute' is?" Chopper asked innocently.

Usopp plucked him off of the group and pinched his cheeks.

"Apparently you! But even I think you're cute! Like a stuffed animal!" Usopp said jokingly.

Chopper blushed and danced around after Usopp set him back down, claiming that he wasn't cute and that complementing him wouldn't make him happy. After a few moments, the two boys looked back over at Zoro and Luffy. Luffy's head was leaning on Zoro's shoulder, and Zoro snored away as usual.

"Oh, I know!" Usopp said, running back into his workshop, laughing quietly.

"What is it?" Chopper asked as Usopp came back out with a camera.

"I bet the girls will wanna see _this _later," Usopp grinned as he lifted the camera and focused it on Zoro and Luffy's sleeping figures.

Chopper looked at the scene before him and giggled a bit. "What about Sanji?"

Usopp looked shocked and feigned a heart attack.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that!" Usopp exclaimed after he took the picture.

The two boys walked together to the galley, where Sanji was busy checking his spices and cleaning the kitchen.

"Sanji!" Usopp called from the doorway quietly.

"Hm?" Sanji turned to look at the two, who wore mischievous grins on their faces.

"Come look!" Chopper said.

"What's going on-!" Sanji said as he turned the corner and two sleeping men came into view.

The cook stared at them blankly for a moment before snickering a bit. In a matter of seconds, Sanji was using all of his willpower to keep from laughing loud enough for everyone across the whole island to hear him.

"This is… This is so hilarious!" Sanji gasped as he was finally able to suppress his laughter.

"And we got a _picture_," Usopp said, lifting the camera into Sanji's view and jiggling it around in a small motion.

"Yeah, a picture!" Chopper repeated, dancing around happily.

He always enjoyed pulling fun pranks with Usopp because they were always fun.

"Oh yeah! We have to head out!" Usopp said, "Hey Chopper, could you go get Brook?"

Chopper nodded and headed away to search for their skeleton friend.

"Sanji, could you make sure these idiots don't do something stupid when they wake up?" Usopp asked.

"Ah, yeah. If they try to go anywhere, I'll trick them back with food and sake," Sanji said casually.

"Thanks!" Usopp said as Chopper came running back with Brook.

"Are you ready, Usopp-san?" Brook asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" Usopp said, walking over to the side of the ship.

The three headed out waved back at Sanji, silently wishing him good luck with the sleeping idiots before climbing off of the ship.

***Nami, Robin, and Franky***

"Me tatchattara SO SORRY, Subete no umi no CELEBRITY WE ARE HURRICANE GIRLS~!" Nami and Robin sang out along to the music.

They were less than halfway through the song and people had come cheering them on, throwing change and small amounts of beri into the purple cowboy hat Robin left sitting in front of them. Smiles spread across their faces as they watched the hat fill, and they sung with more feeling as it got a level higher each time they began a new verse. By the end of the song, the hat was nearly _full_ of beri, and the girls ended the song loudly and joyfully.

"HURRICANE GIRLS, Ai to bibou no EXPERT, Mata aemashou~!"

Suddenly clapping erupted around them as the townsfolk who had gathered around them gave their approval. Even Franky was surprised at how great they had sung, and he had heard them sing more than once within the past two days.

"Look at all of this!" Nami exclaimed after the crowd had dissipated and went back to their own business.

"That is quite a decent amount of beri," Robin said, looking down at the money in approval.

"Ow! You girls did a SUPER great job!" Franky said, finally striking a pose again, annoying Nami.

"Yeah, yeah! Now let's get this money back to the Sunny before I spend it all and we have to sing another song!" Nami ordered.

The two with her turned to head back to the Sunny, happy with their good work and small fortune.

**(Yeah, I know! This chapter is a little short! That just seemed like a good place to stop. Happy chapters are fun, right? No? Aww, darn… lol :D**

**Sorry it took so long to post this chapter! I've been busy lately with homeschooling, waking up at almost 7 A.M. and working until past 6 P.M. every day! I should be caught up around Monday, so don't worry!**

**One more thing! I'm working on the beginning chapters of a new story already [since this series is intended to be relatively short, and I want to be able to have something new up once this is over], so the time I spend writing this may be spent a bit more on that… I hope you take the time to read the new story when it is posted! For now it is nameless, and I don't plan on posting it until I am in the last few chapters of this story, but I promise to tell you all as soon as I post the first chapter so you can check it out!**

**Thanks! Bai Bai! :3)**


	11. Chapter 11: Camera

**Hello, my fans and new readers alike! I hope you are loving the story :D Also, thank phonenix for me getting this chapter out so soon (she offered to let me hug the monster trio! Who could say no to a deal like **_**that**_**?!) :D**

**OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! Who saw the most recent episode?! 7#1*^%'S BACK! ERMAH-FLIPPIN-GERD! *squeals***

**I'm so surprised! I just now realized we are in double-digits! This story was actually intended to be short XD But I don't mind! I'm having fun with it! *cough cough* Eww! I think I just ate a bug with my pizza! EEEEK!**

**Disclaimer: **_**Ptoo! Ptoo!**_** Get out, nasty bug! EEEEEEW~! Oh, there it goes! Huh? A disclaimer? Yeah, I don't own One Piece, and neither does he *points at the bug***

_Chapter 11: Camera_

"We're back!" Franky's voice called over the deck.

"Sanji-kun! Could you help me find a place to keep this hidden from the other boys?" Nami asked as she climbed aboard and headed to the galley.

"Yes, Nami-swan! Anything for you~!" Sanji said as he noodle-danced to her to take a small bag full of change and beri and put it somewhere that it would never be found.

Luffy woke up as Robin came up over the railing opposite him. He lifted his head off Zoro's shoulder, not even noticing it had been there, and rubbed his eyes.

"Captain-san," Robin said, unaware of the fact that Luffy had been napping just moments ago in a position that would've made her chuckle, "We were able to make some money to put towards the performance."

All traces of the sleepy Luffy that had been there a moment ago were gone. "Really?!"

Robin laughed quietly at her captain's expression.

"These ladies sang _super_ great!" Franky exclaimed, coming up behind Robin.

Everyone but Zoro gathered in the galley to talk about Nami, Robin, and Franky's amazing performance in the town.

"Wow!" Luffy said, stars twinkling in his eyes, "I wanna hear you sing too~!"

"No way! I'm too tired for this!" Nami said, bonking Luffy on the head and heading to the deck to sit on a lawn chair in her bikini.

"Aww~!" Luffy pouted.

He quickly turned to Franky, the pout disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Franky! Play the guitar for me!" Luffy said.

Suddenly a black shoe came into contact with his head and knocked him to the floor.

"Will you shut up?! It was so much better when you were sleeping! Go take another nap or something!" Sanji said in annoyance.

The cook came to where Luffy was currently laying on the ground and picked up his shoe as Luffy nursed a growing bump on his head. Suddenly he remembered seeing Luffy and Zoro napping on the deck and began laughing as hard as he had when he first saw it. Luffy and Franky looked at the blonde cook in confusion while he laughed.

And laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed…

Until finally a certain navigator could take no more.

Nami came stomping into the galley to quiet the laughing blonde.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!" Nami shouted, whacking him down to the ground with a loud thud.

"H-Hai, Nami-swan~!" Sanji said happily even after being beaten.

Nami sighed and Luffy and Franky looked at Sanji confused.

"What were you laughing about anyway?" Nami asked.

Sanji grinned and motioned Nami to come closer. When she obeyed confusedly, Sanji whispered something to her and she raised an eyebrow at him before she left the galley once again.

"We're back!" an excited voice called across the ship.

Usopp, Chopper, and Brook had returned to the ship with a bag of money about the size of Nami, Robin, and Franky's bag. Usopp carried the bag off to hide it somewhere nobody would dare to touch it while Chopper and Brook headed to the galley excitedly.

Nami hadn't even gotten all the way back to her lawn chair from beating Sanji when they had boarded, and instead went to hunt down Usopp. When she finally found him, he was coming out of the men's quarters and was smiling proudly.

"Hey, Usopp," Nami said just loud enough for him to hear her.

"What is it?" Usopp asked.

"The camera," she said, "Can I see it?"

_Sanji had waved her over, grinning fiercely as if he knew something she didn't. When she got close enough, he cupped a hand around her ear and whispered something to her._

"_Ask Usopp to see the camera when he gets back. You'll love it!" he whispered, still barely laughing as he pulled himself back._

_She raised an eyebrow at him curiously and got up to walk back to her lawn chair, wondering what she could possibly love on Usopp's camera._

"Hm? The cam-!" Usopp said before he grinned just as wide as Sanji had just moments ago in the galley.

He reached into the bag at his side and pulled out his little camera, but didn't do anything with it just yet.

"Go get Robin, Franky, and Brook. Then I'll show you," Usopp whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

Nami nodded, now seriously curious of what she would see, before she set off to find the nakama she needed to bring.

After a few minutes, she had gotten them to come with her to the galley and kicked Luffy out, leaving Sanji and Chopper in the room. Usopp quickly came in, fending off a curious (and hungry) Luffy while also struggling with the camera in his hands, careful not to drop it.

Once he had finally gotten the door shut, he took a seat at the table and grinned. His grin seemed to be contagious like a disease when Sanji and Chopper also adopted the same looks on their faces. He turned on his camera and looked through the pictures quietly for a moment before he grinned even wider as he found what he was searching for.

"Here," Usopp said, handing the camera to Franky and Brook who sat at the table on the side closest to the kitchen, where Sanji leaned against the counter.

Franky and Brook burst out laughing the moment they saw the picture and handed the camera to Chopper.

Chopper looked at it and giggled a bit, though he already knew what the camera contained, and handed it over to Nami and Robin as Luffy finally seemed to realize that Usopp had forgotten to lock the door.

Nami flushed deep red as Robin began to chuckle at the picture. Luffy was sleeping with his head leaned on Zoro's shoulder like he was a pillow, and Zoro himself just seemed to be sleeping as usual, undisturbed by his sudden new use as a cushion. Of course, Luffy, who had decided he wanted to know what his nakama were laughing about, came into the galley at that moment, followed by a grumpy looking Zoro who complained about noise.

Nami almost threw the camera as she jumped in surprise, still deep red from the (surprisingly cute) picture she had seen, causing Luffy to look over at her curiously.

"_Oh crap!"_ she thought, _"If they see this, they're gonna kill us!"_

Usopp and Nami both wore the same terrified expression as Luffy took the camera from Nami.

"What're you lookin' at-!" Luffy said as he looked down at the camera.

He stared at it blankly as Zoro seemed to become suddenly interested.

"Hm? What's tha-!" Zoro looked over Luffy's shoulder at the camera.

The two men looked at it blankly for a moment before they seemed to realize what they were looking at.

Zoro's ears turned red and his face turned angry as he looked around the room.

"Who. Took. This?" he said as Luffy screamed in fear at the camera and threw it at Usopp, who caught it with a terrified expression that clearly said 'I'm gonna wet my pants'.

Nami, Chopper, and Brook all three pointed at Usopp. "Him!"

"YOU TRAITORS!" Usopp screamed as Zoro chased him out of the galley with an almost murderous look in his eyes.

Luffy went running after them as well, because even though he was pretty stupid most of the time, there were things that you just didn't do between men. Like taking cute pictures of them sleeping on their friend's shoulder.

"USOPPP~!" Luffy and Zoro screamed as they chased the poor sharpshooter all over the deck.

"I'M SORRYYYYY~!"

***Later that night at dinner***

"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed as he looked at Usopp, who was covered in bumps, cuts, and bruises, "You must've went through quite the workout!"

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Usopp screamed at Brook.

Brook just laughed as Usopp went on (another) rampage before he suddenly pulled out a small stack of papers.

"…AND YOU JUST-!" Usopp stopped yelling as his eyes fell on the papers, "What're those?"

"I received a complaint about our last song, so I decided to try a new one!" Brook said.

"A complaint?" Chopper asked, looking disappointed, "But I thought it sounded great!"

"Yeah!" Luffy said, pouting.

"Who was it?" Usopp asked.

Brook scratched his afro nervously. "Well, it wasn't exactly a complaint, but someone requested that I make a song about something else…"

Nami and Robin looked up from their plates curiously while Sanji put down the last plate of food. Zoro wasn't paying attention at the moment, seeing as he was trying to stop a certain rubber hand from stealing his food.

"What's it about?" Chopper asked.

"It's about Lion-chan!" Brook said happily, handing out the sheets of paper to everyone gathered in the galley.

"The Sunny?" Usopp asked.

"That's _super_ awesome!" Franky exclaimed.

"I bet you requested it," Nami said, eyeing their large shipwright.

"Ah! You caught me!" Franky said, sheepishly rubbing his neck with his large hand.

"Let's try it out then!" Luffy said, happy that he could sing another new song.

"But if we keep switching songs, we won't have one memorized by the day of the show!" Nami said.

"Then we can try this one, and if we don't like it, we can go back to the first one and stick with it instead!" Usopp said.

"Yeah!" Chopper said, trying to emphasize Usopp's words.

Nami sighed. "Okay, then…"

"Yay!" Luffy said, happy that he could sing a new song – and about their ship, no less.

As everyone finished their meals, Brook got his guitar out. The crew began picking up their lyric sheets one by one after they put their plates in the sink. It was almost silent for a minute as everyone read their lyrics (or tried, in Luffy's case), and cleared their throats.

"Okay! 1… 2... 3…!" Brook said, suddenly strumming his guitar, creating an energetic melody.

Everyone sang out the first line together, surprisingly well-timed. "Ichi! Juu! Hyaku! THOUSAND~!"

They all surprised each other yet again with their voices, singing notes that they hadn't sung before, or with a pair that they hadn't sung together as before.

When they finished, they all decided they liked this song as much as the other, and that they would sing it for the show. Singing the first one had been fun, but it was nice to sing about the Sunny.

"That was _super_ amazing!" Franky said excitedly as he struck a familiar pose.

"Yay! I wanna do it again!" Chopper said.

"Me too! Me too!" Luffy said as he bounced around in his chair happily.

"Me three!" Usopp said.

"We need to _sleep_ idiots!" Nami screamed at them, "Look outside!"

"Huh?" Luffy said, peeking his head out to look around.

"I don't see anything Nami!" Chopper said, looking from above Luffy.

"It's _late_! Look _up_!" Nami pointed up at the sky.

"Ohhhh~!" Luffy and Chopper said.

"NOW _GO_!" Nami said as she kicked Luffy out of the galley, but grabbed Chopper and pulled him back with her.

"Everyone else but Sanji and Robin has to go!" Nami said.

The occupants of the room looked confused, but complied with her wishes, not wanting to get beaten by a furious redhead navigator. After everyone but Sanji, Robin, and Chopper left, Nami shut the door and looked down at Chopper, who was still locked under her arm.

"What is it, Nami?" Chopper asked.

"I need to ask you something," Nami said.

***Way after midnight, in a mysterious place…***

"_ARGH!_" a scream came from the center of the dark room in a familiar voice.

"Leeman!" Lulu's voice could be heard coming from the corner of the room.

"Kahahaha!" Boss's laugh rang throughout the small space, "If you don't like this-" _wham! _"-don't fail your job, stupid brats!"

Boss hit Leeman again, with the same gloves he had used on Luffy just a few days ago. As Leeman unwillingly let out cries of pain, Lulu began sobbing in the corner.

It wasn't anything new. They knew what would happen every time they failed to bring someone strong to their boss. All the man cared about was his _fun_.

_Wham!_

"Okay, brat! I'm done!" Boss said, smile gone, "Do your job right next time!"

Boss cut the rope that held him in place and left. Lulu came running to his side as soon as Boss disappeared from her sight range.

"Leeman!" she said.

"I-I'm okay," Leeman said, forcing a smile through his pain, "It's okay…"

He reached out a hand and pet her on the head as she sniffled. Once she had finished crying and was calmed down, he pulled his head up next to hers where his mouth was positioned by her ear.

"I've got a plan to take Boss down for good!" he whispered.

Lulu's eyes widened.

"Really?!" she whispered back loudly.

"Yeah, but first I'm gonna need to get better, so could you help me get outta here?" he said.

"Okay!" she said happily.

After they were finally able to get back to their shared room, Leeman told her his plan.

"We're going to use the Straw Hat pirates! Once Straw Hat recovers, we're gonna take him again! But this time, we're not gonna take him back to the base…"

***Back on the Sunny (men's quarters) shortly after***

"_ACHOO!"_ Luffy suddenly sneezed so hard it made him fall off of his hammock, "OUCH!"

A pillow suddenly hit his face from his spot on the floor.

"Shuddup, Luffy…" Usopp groaned from his hammock, "We're tryin' ta' sleep, you know…"

"Sorry, sorry!" Luffy grinned as he climbed back into his hammock and gave Usopp his pillow back.

"I wonder who's talking about me!" he said as he settled back into his hammock.

"It doesn't matter, go to sleep Luffy," Sanji said from his hammock.

Zoro's snores were the only thing that could be heard throughout the room as Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji fell back asleep.

**(Before I say anything else, I must apologize deeply for the length of this chapter! I know it's short, but this seemed like a better place to leave it in this chapter. Next chapter will be more exciting, I promise! I hope you loved this chapter! :D Stick around for more!**

**And ERMAHGERD HE'S BAAAACK! (*#jh'S BACCCCKKKKKKK! *fanspasms***

***Cough Cough* Excuse me! As I was saying… For those of you who read my personal notes to all of you beautiful readers, I have another story for you! It's called **_**Uniform**_** and was actually a request! It's posted now, so go ahead and check it out!)**


	12. Chapter 12: A New Day

**(:O I can't believe it! It's been over 2 weeks since I've updated SoH! T^T I'm so sorry! I'm so neglectful! *bows*… But on the bright side, I'm honored to have patient fans such as yourselves! Can I write your usernames on my binder? Pleeeeeease~? *puppy dog eyes***

**I shall now advertise my Facebook page, One Piece Inspiration! Please go take a look! It's mainly just pictures, but a few of them are interesting, and a great deal of them are hilarious XD Thank you ahead of time for checking it out if you do so!**

**Well then! I hope you love this chapter! It actually took me a few days to change the storyline because I decided I didn't like where the story was going before and changed it to fit everything I've already typed out. A lot stays the same, but a lot will change too. For those of you who haven't looked yet, you should read my other story Uniform. It's awesome! You should read it! THIS IS NOT SHAMELESS ADVERTISING! Okay… Well… Maybe it is… But that's not important. Anyways! On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I think everyone knows I don't own One Piece. I mean, seriously, its obvious Luffy will be Pirate King, so the One Piece is HIS o_o)**

_Chapter 12: A New Day_

Luffy pulled himself out of bed the next morning and yawned loudly. As he walked to the galley, he noticed his throat was dry but ignored it in favor of food. Sanji was always telling him to drink his water anyway, so he'd wait. When Chopper practically tackled him with a hug, he just picked him up and carried him along to the galley with him where Robin, Nami, and Sanji were. Soon after, Brook came, followed by Franky, Usopp, and Zoro.

"Meat, meat, meat!" Luffy chanted as Sanji cooked.

"Yeah, yeah! Be quiet! I'm almost done!" Sanji said.

Luffy frowned as he remembered his dry throat. "Hey Sanji!"

"What? I just told you I was about done," Sanji said.

"No, I want some water," Luffy said, "Pleeeeeease?"

Sanji raised an eyebrow, but brought him a glass anyway. Luffy snatched it away and drank it quickly. The dryness in his throat wouldn't go away, and he was starting to get annoyed by it. He didn't have much time to contemplate it, though, because he suddenly started coughing.

"Luffy!" Chopper said, running up to pat his back, "Are you okay? Did you drink the water too fast?"

"I… I think-!" Luffy began, unable to finish his sentence as he continued hacking.

"Wait, don't answer that! I'll ask questions after you stop coughing, okay?" Chopper said, patting Luffy's back roughly.

Usopp, meanwhile, decided right now was the perfect time to jinx him. "HE'S GONNA DIE! I'VE BEEN FEARING THIS MOMENT!"

Tears gushed from Chopper's eyes at Usopp's proclamation. "Luffy~! I don't want you to die~!"

Luffy forced himself to stop coughing long enough to tell Chopper he was going to live, making the reindeer feel a little better.

"I need to run some more tests. Could someone help me get him to the infirmary?" Chopper asked.

Zoro stood and picked Luffy up wordlessly. Chopper smiled gratefully and the three disappeared from the galley. Silence filled the room for the next few minutes after that as everyone worried about their captain. They had been so happy that there was a way for them to get a cure that they forgot that there was still the possibility of something happening before they would be able to actually get _ahold_ of that cure.

A few of the more sensitive members of the crew (Nami and Usopp) almost jumped out of their seats when Zoro walked into the galley and sat back down at his seat.

"So…? Is he okay?" Usopp asked.

Zoro grunted and continued eating his food that had been left behind in the confusion.

"That's not an answer, Zoro! Yes or no? We can't all understand your weird grunting!" Nami said with her hands on her hips.

A glare was shot her way by the swordsman and he continued eating without answering.

"I'll raise your debt! I'll make it a higher raise than normal, too! This is important information!" Nami said.

Zoro nearly choked on his food and he decided it was probably about time he answered. "I don't know."

"What? Why not? If you're not telling the truth..." Nami said, starting to look scarier than normal, "I'LL BEAT IT OUT OF YOU!"

"I'm serious," Zoro said, turning back to his food.

"How do you not know?" Usopp asked.

"Chopper's still busy in there. If you want to know anything, you'll have to wait until he's done," Zoro said as he jerked a thumb in the direction of the infirmary.

The room went silent again as everyone waited anxiously for Chopper's tests to be finished. An hour later, the little reindeer came in the room looking tired as he could be.

"Doctor-san, how is he?" Robin asked.

Chopper frowned. "He's getting worse. I had to make him sleep to do most of my testing, so he's still sleeping in the infirmary."

Sanji led Chopper to his seat where his food now sat. Chopper ate the food quietly, and the rest of the crew finally split up and headed to other places on the ship to think. Sanji and Chopper stayed in the galley for a few until Chopper left to go back to the infirmary where, to his slight surprise, Luffy had already woken up. Chopper ran over to Luffy and gave him a small hug.

"You're already awake! That medicine was supposed to make you sleep for at least two hours! Maybe it's because of your devil fruit and digestive system that it's effects wore off so quickly. Are you feeling better? Do you want anything?" Chopper said quickly.

Luffy held his hand up, silently signaling for Chopper to be quiet. Chopper's eyebrows (don't ask me how he has eyebrows; I have no clue. It's true though! Look up pictures of Chopper and look at his face closely! CLOSER!) furrowed and he looked at Luffy curiously.

"Are you okay?" Chopper asked.

Luffy opened his mouth to answer but didn't say anything. There was an awkward moment of silence while Luffy sat there with his mouth hanging open as if he were about to speak and Chopper just watched him. Luffy began to sweat and he opened and closed his mouth a few times without saying anything. He put a hand up to his mouth and his face was the picture of confusion.

Of course, their little doctor was on the case immediately.

"SANJI!" Chopper shouted, running to the galley.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Sanji said, setting down the sponge he was using to wash the dishes.

"Get me a cup of water and some soup!" Chopper said from the doorway.

Sanji, though confused, complied quickly, getting a glass down and filling it with water and simultaneously taking a pot and setting it on the stove as gently as possible. Chopper took the glass from Sanji and headed back to the infirmary.

"Here, drink this _slowly_," Chopper said, handing the glass of water to Luffy, who accepted it and drank it as quick as he could without Chopper telling him to slow down.

Luffy handed the empty glass back to Chopper, beginning to look frustrated as he opened his mouth to thank his friend but no sound came out. Chopper ran off again to the galley to return the empty glass and get the soup. When he entered the room, he could immediately smell the scent of the warm soup in the air.

"Here," Sanji said, handing a filled bowl of soup to Chopper, "Hey… Is he… I mean, what's wrong?"

Chopper frowned and motioned for Sanji to follow him. The two entered the infirmary and Chopper gave the bowl of soup to Luffy, who ate it happily. Sanji watched curiously as Luffy ate the soup. Nothing _seemed_ wrong. That is, until Luffy finished the soup and handed the empty bowl to Chopper. He opened his mouth to thank Chopper, but again found himself unable to produce any sound and became frustrated. Sanji's brows furrowed as he watched Luffy open and close his mouth a few times until he understood. Luffy had lost his voice. Chopper turned to look Sanji in the eyes and hand him the bowl.

"But… What about the contest?" Sanji asked when he entered the galley with Chopper to return the empty bowl to the sink where it would be washed along with the other dishes.

"I don't know. I'll have to talk to Brook about it," Chopper said as he turned to leave the room.

The sound of music greeted the young doctor as he exited the room and stepped out onto the deck. He followed the melody to its creator and found Brook sitting near the figurehead of the Sunny playing his violin. Once the melody had finished and the last note ended, Chopper spoke.

"Brook, I need to talk to you," Chopper said.

"Hm?" Brook looked down at Chopper, "About what?"

"It's about the contest," Chopper said.

"What about the contest? Has something happened to Luffy-san?" Brook asked.

"He lost his voice…" Chopper said.

Brook looked at his friend quietly for a few moments before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a stack of paper. "Yohohohoho! It's a good thing I planned ahead, then!"

"W-What?" Chopper said, looking at the stack of paper wide-eyed, "What are those?"

"This is another song, Chopper-san! I wanted to have a back-up song ready for a situation like this!" Brook said.

"Really?! Brook, you're amazing!" Chopper said as he jumped forward to hug one of Brook's boney legs.

"Yohohoho~! Thank you!" Brook said as he and Chopper set out to gather the rest of the crew.

Once they had gathered everyone, they headed to the infirmary. Brook had said he wanted Luffy to hear the song, and Chopper refused to let Luffy leave the infirmary at the moment due to their new problem (Luffy wouldn't be able to call out for help if he fell off the ship, might eat something weird and make his condition worse, or do multiple other things that Chopper was _not_ going to let happen). Luffy looked at them all curiously before eyeing the stack of paper Brook was holding curiously. His face clearly showed his confusion, and most of his crew members shared the same exact feelings with him at the moment. Brook handed the papers to all of the crew except for Luffy, who just continued to look between his crewmates and the papers in confusion. He watched as his crew read the paper. Their reactions varied from confused to happy to sad to none (Brook, obviously, seeing as he has no skin to frown or smile with) as they read, making Luffy's interest spike up and he tried multiple times to peek at the papers until Chopper would tell him to get back in the bed and stop moving.

"This is…" Usopp said quietly.

"Why doesn't Luffy have a part in this? What's wrong?" Nami asked.

Chopper stood in front of the group and cleared his throat to make sure he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him. "Luffy lost his voice, so he won't be able to participate in the contest."

Luffy frowned. He wanted to be in the contest though! It wasn't fair! He pouted as his crewmembers eyes widened, all except for Robin, who kept a calm and composed look as usual.

"W-What? But he was looking forward to this!" Usopp said, pointing at Luffy, who shook his head in agreement.

"There's no helping it, Usopp-san. Luffy-san can't sing without his voice," Brook said.

Usopp frowned and looked down at the lyrics, reading them once more. He remembered Brook saying something about a backup song before, but he had thought that they wouldn't need to use it. Well, he was proved wrong. As he read over the lyrics, he slowly realized something about the song. It was directed to their captain. Usopp looked back up at Brook, now understanding why he had gathered them in the infirmary as opposed to the galley where there would be more room for everyone to sit. Brook pulled out his violin and also asked Franky to play his guitar while everyone read and reread the lyrics. When the music started, Luffy watched them all curiously and waited for them to start singing, swaying slightly to the melody.

**["There Is No Shape To A Dream" Translated Lyrics]**

"_The crimson sky  
painted by red petals  
among the sakura  
dancing and fluttering  
I made a vow_

_In the bright shining ocean  
that we had embraced  
that distant dream  
is somewhere beyond the waves  
surely someday  
it will come true_

_Even when you are lost in this vast world  
I'll always have an arm reaching for you  
but the enemy was so strong  
I wasn't able to do anything for you…_

_On the transparent blade  
our shadows are reflected  
brittle and weak  
seeing what happened  
in the world that day  
I made a vow_

_I have also changed  
you, who put a smile on my face  
is now crying  
even if it is just for a little bit,  
I want to be there by your side  
on that day I ended up crying because  
you were too_

_It has been so long  
that I had forgotten your face  
and all the treasures you gave me  
but like hard stones weave history  
time will not fade you  
from my memory_

_In these roaring waves  
no matter what happens  
our dream ship will keep sailing  
I will go with you  
to your dream destination  
and never set anchor until we are there_

_I am going to sing for you,  
the one friend  
who had given me hope  
in times that you are troubled  
even though I am not that reliable  
I still want to protect you_

_To that distant place  
you went to  
I send you my vow  
flying across the sky  
no matter what hinders its path_

_Though the dreams  
that we are all pursuing  
have different shapes  
we all want to stay by you  
and guide your heart through  
the path of light"_

**[~Verse 1- Chopper, Verse 2- Sanji, Verse 3- Usopp, Verse 4- Zoro, Verse 5- Nami, Verse 6- Robin, Verse 7- Franky, Verse 8- Brook, Verse 9+10- All~]  
[Look up the song on YouTube!]**

By the end of the song, Luffy was smiling happily and swaying in tune with the music, and seemed disappointed when Brook and Franky stopped playing their instruments. The rest of the crew was also happy with their performance, and Brook, who seemed the proudest of all, even wanted to do it again. Luffy seemed to be off somewhere else in his mind by now, thinking about something which the crew would guess to be meat or adventure, but it was in fact going to be a special gift for his special friends who had taken the time to do such a great favor for him to return his health. And so, with that, the crew began their second round of singing.

**(WOOHOO! That was so fun to write! I love the song they are singing~! Actually, my friend is the one who told me about this song, so thank her for its amazing appearance in this story! I hope you loved this chapter, even if it was a bit shorter than I would've liked it to be.**

**Have a wonderful day/night~! I LOVE YOU ALL! PEACE! *holds fingers up in a V*)**


	13. Chapter 13: Reveal! TCAO!

**(Phew! I've finally gotten back to writing this. I should honestly work on Uniform, but I want to work on my beginning story right now. I don't want to start any new stories until this one is finished. So far, I've only got two stories other than this one going on; Dream Ride and Uniform. I have the most fun writing Dream Ride out of all three stories, but I have fun writing all of them. It really makes me want to write more when I get reviews. It's like seeing an A+ on a test and then you want to work even harder to get that result as often as possible. Anyways, I guess I should start writing now, huh? XD**

**Disclaimer: o_o Wait, what? Were you confused? I'm not Oda-sensei. He lives in Japan. He's also the author of One Piece. Oh! There's the disclaimer! Story time!)**

_Chapter 13: Reveal! The Curtains Are Opened!_

A few peaceful – and unusually quiet – days later, Luffy and Usopp found themselves attempting a half silent game of cards. Even with the loss of his voice, Luffy was still just as bad at cards as he was, although now he didn't unintentionally tell out what his answers were.

"Come on! How does anyone play _this_ bad?" Usopp asked, laying his cards down in defeat, "It's impossible to play with you! Look! You just let me see _all_ of your cards!"

Luffy looked down at the cards and realized he was holding them the wrong way, with the backs of the cards facing himself. His jaw dropped comically as he hurried to flip the cards back around.

"It's no use now, Luffy. I already saw them," Usopp said.

Luffy pouted and put his cards down. Poor Luffy had absolutely no way of communicating with anyone but Zoro. Somehow, the swordsman could accurately guess the meanings of the nonsensical gestures that Luffy made when he wanted something. Of course, the one gesture they could all understand was the one where he would point in the direction of the galley with sparkles in his eyes and drool running down his mouth. That one was pretty obvious.

"Hey, Usopp! Could you help me with something down here?" Franky suddenly called.

"Huh? Okay! Gimme a sec and I'll be right there!" Usopp called back, turning to Zoro and nudging him awake with his foot, "Hey, hey Zoro. Get up! I need you to watch Luffy for a few, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble that he can't alert anyone about."

"Watch Luffy?" Zoro said, getting up and looking around, "But he's not out here. Are you on crack, Usopp?"

"NO WAY! YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON I WANNA HEAR THAT FROM!" Usopp shouted.

"Oh, there he is," Zoro said, pointing out at Luffy, who was chasing something into trees off of the Sunny.

"…." Zoro and Usopp watched as he disappeared into the bushes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH~! HE'S GONE! HE JUST LEFT! WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Usopp screamed as Zoro ran and jumped off of the Sunny to head after their captain.

"Hurry up and come on!" Zoro said as he neared the bushes.

"AH! NO WAY YOU'RE GOING BY YOURSELF!" Usopp yelled as he ran after Zoro.

"What's with all the yelling out here? Huh? Where is every-!" Nami said as she saw Usopp disappearing into the bushes, "SANJI! Come and help me follow after those idiots!"

Sanji came out of the galley at lightning fast speed. "Yes, Nami-swan~!"

Sanji picked up Nami and ran off into the bushes after Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy.

"Hey~! Usopp~! Where are you~?" Nami called out.

"Huh? Nami? You're out here?" Usopp yelled back, suddenly stopping in his tracks to find his friend, who happened to be behind him, "OH! There you are! Luffy ran off the ship and then Zoro chased after him so I had to follow them. Hey, come on! Let's go while I can still see Zoro!"

The three caught up to Zoro soon enough (and Nami finally made Sanji put her down so she could run on her own) and pursued their idiot rubber-headed captain.

"Luffy! Where are you going?!" Zoro shouted, forgetting that his captain couldn't speak at the moment as Luffy suddenly jumped after something that disappeared into the bushes to his left.

"Whoa!" Usopp said, pointing up into the tree behind the bushes Luffy had just hopped into.

It was well hidden, but you could barely see where a treehouse had been built into the tree. The pink paint on the treehouse blended in well with the pink leaves surrounding it, and the light cast out the window from inside could barely be seen through the leaves.

"Well then," Zoro said as he dived into the bushes behind Luffy.

"Hey! What if those leaves are poison or something?" Usopp said as he followed Zoro into the leaves anyway, knowing it couldn't be avoided.

"Uh… Well, here I go, then!" Nami said as she crawled in behind.

"Nami-san, I'll protect you from anything bad in these bushes!" Sanji said as he climbed in last.

Somehow, going into the bushes had led the group into the treehouse. How? Well, they weren't quite sure themselves, but it did.

"Whoa… What _is_ this place?" Nami asked, looking at the pink light cast in by the light through the trees and window.

"No clue. Just some other weird place our captain probably happened to find doing something stupid," Usopp said.

"I'm just surprised the mosshead didn't get lost while we were chasing after him," Sanji said.

"Excuse me?!" Zoro said.

"Well, that doesn't matter. The question is, what in the hell did Luffy come out here for?" Nami stated.

"Yeah, seriously. I bet it's something stupid. Like, maybe he found an animal and decided to chase it for meat," Usopp suggested jokingly.

The group approached a door at the end of a small hallway/bridge-like structure. After a moment's hesitation from Nami and Usopp, they opened the door quietly and slowly and walked into the room. To their surprise, Luffy sat in the middle of the room happily wolfing down a basket filled with cooked meat. To their_ further_ surprise, a man with coal black hair and banana-colored yellow eyes sat next to Luffy and stared in their direction.

Zoro and Sanji immediately took up offensive stances and Usopp squealed like a little girl, pulled out his slingshot, and hid behind the two.

"Uh…" Nami wasn't quite sure what to say.

They didn't even _know_ this guy, but they were about to attack him? What idiots.

Nami bonked Zoro and Sanji on the heads and snatched away Usopp's slingshot. "_What_ in god's name are you _doing_?!"

"N-Nami-san…" Sanji said from his place face-planted into the ground.

"That guy is… The guy who took Luffy!" Zoro said.

Nami gasped and pulled the two back up from the floor, brushed them off slightly, and shoved them a few centimeters in the mystery man's direction. She then proceeded to force Usopp's slingshot back into his hands and hide behind the halfway opened door. "Get him, boys! I'm counting on you!"

Zoro's eyebrows twitched and Sanji declared his undying love for Nami as they got back into their stances. Zoro charged first, surprised when his rubber captain stepped into his path with a frown and a finger waving side-to-side. Luffy then made a few weird hand signs.

"Oh, that's the banana guy you were talking about?" Zoro asked.

Luffy nodded his head enthusiastically and pointed at his friend and then to the basket of meat.

"And he gave you that meat?" Nami asked from her place behind the door.

He nodded again.

"So… h-he's a… good guy?" Usopp stuttered, still not putting his slingshot down.

He nodded _again_.

"But he took you and got you beaten!" Sanji said angrily, not putting his foot down as well.

The man, Leeman, visibly flinched at Sanji's statement. "Sorry…"

"H-Huh?" Usopp said, "He talks?"

"I was beginning to wonder if he would ever say something," Sanji said.

"I… I had to," Leeman said, disregarding Sanji's statement.

"You had to? Why?" Nami said, coming out from her hiding spot and walking closer to Luffy and Zoro.

Leeman looked down uncomfortably and said nothing.

"Hey, Nami-san asked you a question! Now answer it!" Sanji said.

"If I tell you, will you help us out?" Leeman said.

"Us?" Usopp said.

"What, you didn't realize I was here?" a new voice came from a nearby corner.

Luffy's face lit up at the sound of the voice.

"Or us either?" two other voices sounded in unison.

Three girls walked out of the dark corners of the room; Tomomi, Miki, and Lulu.

"Hey! I know you!" Nami said, pointing at Miki.

"Uh… H-Hi!" Miki said, waving but also trying to look cool at the same time. Bobo climbed out of Miki's backpack and over towards Nami to hug her leg.

"Oh, hi there!" Nami said, picking up the monkey and giving him a big hug.

"Yo," Bobo said.

"THE MONKEY TALKS?!" Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro all shouted at the same time.

Luffy's eyes sparkled happily and he walked up and pinched the monkeys cheeks.

"OW! Don't do that!" Bobo screeched, slapping away Luffy's hands and rubbing his reddening cheeks, "Know your own strength!"

"_Anyway_, we need your help," Leeman said, standing up from his place beside the now emptied meat basket and stretching a hand out towards Zoro, "The name's Leeman."

Zoro eyed him warily, not shaking the hand offered but not rejecting the introduction. "Roronoa Zoro."

"Oh, I know that already," Leeman said, "I'm a bounty hunter. Oh, but don't worry, I don't want to turn you guys in because you're Luffy's friends."

Usopp and Nami gaped. Leave it to their captain to make friends with people who would normally be their enemies.

Tomomi walked towards the boys and bowed slightly. "Sorry about last time. Your meal was so rudely interrupted. I hope I can pay you back at the end of all of this."

"Don't worry about it, Tomomi-chwan~!" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes as he noodled his way over to the pink haired chef.

Lulu was busy fussing with some bandages on Leeman's arm while everyone else got their introductions over with and chatted a bit to catch up on things they'd missed when they arrived at the island. Luffy, who couldn't partake in any of the conversation due to the loss of his voice, inspected Leeman closely. Since Lulu had to remove the bandages to treat the wounds underneath, Luffy could clearly see the injuries. There were huge gashes resembling those he had had after his encounter with Boss. He frowned as he looked from his arm to his face, which was also covered in similar injuries.

A few minutes of inspecting and chatting later, the group gathered in a circle to talk.

"So, what is it that you're needing help with?" Nami asked.

Leeman was the first to speak up. "We want you to help us save our town."

"Save your town? It looked perfectly fine when we went through it," Usopp said.

"It _looks_ fine, but we all have a big problem. The only thing that keeps us from living peacefully is…" Leeman began.

Bobo hopped up on his shoulder. "Boss."

"Boss…?" Usopp said, feeling familiar with the name. Suddenly it clicked. "You mean the guy that hurt Luffy?!"

"Really?!" Nami said, having been too infuriated at the time to pay attention to the man's name.

Zoro frowned and Sanji lit a cigarette as Luffy nodded his head. Then Luffy pointed to Leeman's arm.

"Huh?" Leeman looked down at his arm, "Oh, that? Yeah. Same thing."

Lulu, who sat beside him, sniffled a little bit as she recalled the night it had happened. Usopp gave her a pat on the head. There was no way something so bloody would be easy to forget. He certainly hadn't.

"You see? _That's_ why we can't live in peace here. Any time someone strong comes into town, Boss sends his slaves to go gather the one with the highest bounty. If they can put up a good enough fight, Boss takes them to the government and takes the reward," Miki said with her arms crossed.

"W-Why?" Usopp asked.

"Entertainment," Leeman said.

"E-Entertainment?!" Usopp and Nami shouted.

"Yes, and the weaker ones get beaten and sent back where they came from – if they survive," Leeman stated calmly.

"What kind of sick, twisted man would find something like that _entertaining_?" Sanji asked, shuddering slightly. He couldn't really see anything entertaining about staining himself in someone's blood.

"Apparently Boss does. Nobody knows why, though," Leeman said, "He's never found a match though. No one can beat him, as far as I know."

"'Cept, we think Luffy can help!" Lulu said, "Actually, all of you!"

Luffy grinned and Zoro smirked. Of course they could.

"How much money?" Nami asked.

Leeman pulled out a small bag and tossed it over.

"W-Woah!" Nami said as she caught the bag.

"What's in there?" Usopp said, eyeing the bag cautiously.

"Money," Miki stated, grinning wide as Nami opened the zipper.

"T-This is…! How did you even _get_ this much money?" Nami asked as she stared at the hundreds of beri inside, "Wait, don't tell me you _stole_ all of this."

"Actually, I _didn't_," Miki said.

"We _all_ earned it," Leeman said.

"How?" Nami asked.

"Singing competitions, Bobo and Miki's street performances, the small amount of bounty money I get when Boss is being 'nice', and money that Tomomi makes selling her dishes. Mostly singing though," Leeman answered.

"W-Wow…" Usopp said, peering over Nami's shoulder.

"There must be thousands of beri in there…" Sanji stated as he looked into the bag.

"I… I can't take this! How will you guys eat if you give me – I mean _us_ – this?" Nami asked, moving to hand the bag back.

"No, no. You don't have to worry about us. We're fine," Leeman said, pushing the bag back.

"Okay!" Nami said, pulling the bag to her chest and hugging it happily.

"So, how exactly are we supposed to help you? Just beat up this Boss guy?" Zoro said.

"Actually, yes. Well, technically, you'll have to win the singing competition and get the medicine for Luffy, and _then _you'll need to wait for the medicine to fully heal him. After that, we'll talk with you again so that we can form a plan," Leeman said, "Sound good?"

"Sounds fine with me," Zoro said.

"I'd be glad to!" Nami said, still clinging to the bag of money like it was her baby.

"I'll follow Nami-san wherever she goes!" Sanji said.

"I have a bad feeling about this… B-B-But, the GREAT Usopp can do anything!" Usopp said, his knees knocking together slightly.

"Luffy? What do you want to do?" Zoro asked.

Luffy just grinned and nodded his head once.

"Should've known. Why'd you even ask?" Nami asked, chuckling.

"He has his whims sometimes," Zoro said, "You never know what he'll agree to."

"True," Nami said.

"So, I suggest you go back to your ship now," Miki said.

"Huh? Why?" Nami asked.

"Your friends don't know where you left to, correct? Better to get back quickly and tell them everything before they go looking for you," Leeman said.

Tomomi, Lulu, Bobo, and Miki waved. "Goodbye~! We'll see you soon!"

Sanji watched the girls with hearts in his eyes as Nami and Usopp drug him out of the room. "Goodbye, my sweet angels!"

"Sanji-kun, Zoro is being mean," Nami said in an attempt to distract Sanji and make him leave the room.

Of course, this easily worked. "STUPID MOSSHEAD! WHAT'D YOU DO THIS TIME?!"

Zoro, who was busy dragging Luffy out, kept walking. "I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, right! Nami-san is always right, so what'd you do?" Sanji said as he ran up to Zoro and turned him so that he was walking in the right direction.

"Poor Sanji. He's way too gullible when it comes to women," Usopp whispered to Nami.

"Yeah, it almost makes me feel bad when I use it to my advantage. Almost," Nami whispered back.

"You're so evil…" Usopp mumbled.

"What was that? You want me to raise your debt?" Nami asked.

"Wha?! N-No! Sorry!" Usopp yelped.

"That's what I thought…" Nami said.

**(… Well, here ya go! It's finished! I try hard! So I hope you liked it!**

**Goodbyyyyyyeeeeee~! I love you all! *hands out a cookie to everyone* Thanks for reading! Please review!)**


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